Supreme Court to Hear Native American Adoption Case
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a Native American adoption case that could result in changes to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), which protects Native American families. ICWA was enacted in 1978 after Congress found more than a third of all Native American children were being taken from their families and given to white adoptive and foster parents,” reports NPR.
Exactly how that Act is interpreted is at stake in the case in question. The case involves a Native American father who gave up his parental rights and refused to provide financial support to the Hispanic mother of his biological child. The father later objected to the mother giving the child up for adoption. The parents were engaged, but broke off the engagement prior to the child being born.
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Two years later, the case is in the Supreme Court. While the father would have no rights under South Carolina state law, ICWA trumps state law and could permit him to have custody.
The Court’s decision in the case could set a precedent for future cases involving absentee Native American fathers who have impregnated non-Indian women.
A decision in the case is expected by June.
Related law: Thailand’s Child Adoption Act
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Flickr photo courtesy of deltaMike
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