Baby Veronica: Now the media bias for the Capobiancos begins

Lorraine

I thought there was nothing more to say about the Baby Veronica case but then I happened to come upon Susan Estrich today on Yahoo that totally makes me sick--written as it is from the Capobianco playbook. I'll have to quote a bit here to give you the tenor of this:

"Why should the rights of the tribe trump the rights of the adoptive parents?
"What gives the tribe ownership of a child whose father has given up his parental rights and whose mother has decided that adoption is in her best interests?
"Why should the rights of the tribe force a woman to raise a child she may not be capable of raising — in which case, no one in the tribe could complain — rather than allowing the child to be placed with a loving family?

Reflections on Veronica Brown and being raised in a family different from your own

Veronica Brown yesterday

It was not on television, it was dignified, it was as private as possible, but it happened last night: Dusten Brown gave his daughter Veronica to the adoptive parents who treated her no more than a piece of property they had paid for. Now she was signed, sealed and delivered into the hands of Matt and Melanie Copabianco, and from reports, whisked immediately out of the county. It is likely they will be back home today in South Carolina, a thousand miles away from her father--her real father--in Oklahoma. 

From new reports we learned that Dusten Brown said goodbye to Veronica at Jack Brown House, the tribal headquarters where they have been living in Tahlequah. As Brown and his wife, Robin, watched from a window, a Cherokee County sheriff's deputy and a Cherokee Nation marshal led Veronica to the nearby marshal's building, where the handover occurred about 7:30 p.m.

Dusten Brown continues to fight for his daughter; the Capobiancos dig in deeper

 

Veronica and her father, Dusten Brown

Oh, pity the poor Capobiancos. Practically weeping on camera how they want "their daughter," to "come home." The girl is question is Veronica Brown, otherwise known as Baby Veronica in the media.

Then Chris Cuomo on CNN is arguing the "legal rights" in this case this morning, and how it has been settled--thus, the father of Baby Veronica (now Toddler Veronica, as she will be four next month), Dusten Brown ought to just get with the program, and turn over his child to the would-be adopters. He nods to the another member of the New Morning show, Michele Pereira, whose family "has embraced" adoption. (How, I do not know.)

Adoptive father John Roberts: Not impartial in the Baby Veronica case

Adoptive father John Roberts

Judges are supposed to be impartial and immune from cronyism but Chief Justice John Roberts seems to have crossed that line in joining the majority in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl. In a five to four decision, the Court gutted the Indian Child Welfare Act, ruling against father Dusten Brown. Brown, who is part Cherokee, lives in Oklahoma, and sought to stop the adoption of his daughter Veronica by Matt and Melanie Capobianco in South Carolina.

The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled in Brown's favor and Veronica, went to live with her father. In June, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Brown and for the adoptive parents, the little girl--now almost four--had been living with her father for the past 18 months. Since the Supreme Court held the ICWA gave Brown no right to oppose the adoption, the South Carolina court approved Capobianco's petition to adopt Veronica and ordered that Brown transfer custody to them. Brown has applied for a stay from the Supreme Court. The justice who has jurisdiction in that case? Roberts, who oversees emergency petitions for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes South Carolina.