A father's right to raise his own daughter hinges on 'Indian Act'

Lorraine

At least two influential newspapers this morning are urging that the Supreme Court return a little girl who has been living with her natural father for the past 15 months to her adoptive parents. We write about "Baby Veronica," the three-and-half year old girl the South Carolina family court returned to her biological father, Dusten Brown, after he contested her adoption. When Brown agreed to give up his rights of the child to the mother--also signing a notice of adoption which he says he did not understand--he was being shipped off to Iraq. He assumed, he says, that the girl's mother she was planning to raise her.

As soon as he learned that the girl was being put up for adoption, he began fighting to raise her. He has another child; no one doubts he is a good father.