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Dusten Brown (baby Veronica case)

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2009 Sep 15
 


In 2009, Matt and Melanie Capobianco, a couple from South Carolina sought to adopt a child whose father, Dusten Brown, was a member of the Cherokee Nation. Brown contested the adoption on the grounds that he was not properly notified in accordance with Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) , and won his cases in trial court and on appeal with the state supreme court.

On October 1, 2012, the adoptive couple petitioned the United States Supreme Court to review the case. On January 4, 2013, the court granted certiorari and heard the case on April 16, 2013. On June 25, 2013, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision, sending the case back to the state court of South Carolina for further hearings on the issue. On July 31, 2013, the South Carolina trial court finalized the adoption of the child to the adoptive couple, but on August 30. 2013, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the girl would not immediately be transferred from the custody of her biological father to the South Carolina couple who adopted her. The stay was lifted on September 23, 2013 and the child was turned over to her adoptive parents on the same day.

Documents

Title Publication date
Capobiancos Sue Dusten Brown for Nearly Half a Million in Fees 2013 Sep 25
Adoptive parents take custody of Veronica from biological father 2013 Sep 23
Skeptics of Veronica, Desaray cases call for closer look at private adoptions, laws 2013 Sep 21
Trafficking Native Children: The Seamy Underbelly of U.S. Adoption Industry 2013 Aug 27
Baby Veronica's biological family: Court fight will move to Oklahoma 2013 Aug 6
The Gloves Come Off: Civil Rights Suit Filed as Adoption of Veronica Finalized 2013 Aug 1
Veronica’s father vows not to comply with adoption order that harms daughter 2013 Jul 31
Supreme Court rules for couple over baby girl's adoption 2013 Jun 25
Supreme Court says Native American child doesn’t have to be given to biological father 2013 Jun 25
U.S. Supreme Court reverses S.C. court in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, siding with James Island couple 2013 Jun 25
Justice Alito Just Wrote the Next Chapter in One of the Best RadioLab Episodes Ever 2013 Jun 25
ADOPTIVE COUPLE v. BABY GIRL, A MINOR CHILD UNDER THE AGE OF FOURTEEN YEARS, ET AL. 2013 Jun 25
Media Failures Lead to Flawed Understandings in Cherokee Adoption Case 2013 Jan 13
Case Pits Adoptive Parents Against Tribal Rights 2012 Dec 24
The Stealing of Our American Indian Children 2012 Dec 22
Broken Home: The Save Veronica story 2012 Sep 26
South Carolina Supreme Court Permits Biological Father to Take 2-Year-Old From Her Adoptive Parents 2012 Aug 23
Full compliance with Indian Child Welfare Act, not its dismantling, is needed 2012 Jul 20
'Baby Veronica' adoption case lobbyists move to Congress 2012 Jul 11
ICWA law at center of adoption controversy 2012 Jan 23
Native American roots trump in adoption battle over toddler 2012 Jan 8