SC couple appeals custody case involving Oklahoma Native American girl to Supreme Court

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

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This story was filed on October 6, 2012

By BRUCE SMITH, AP

CHARLESTON, S.C. – A court ruling sending a Native American girl back to Oklahoma from her adoptive South Carolina family has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The state Supreme Court ruled that the 2-year-old should be returned to her biological father, a member of the Cherokee tribe.

But in a 142-page petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys for the South Carolina couple say courts in a dozen states are divided on the interpretation of the Indian Child Welfare Act.

They want the high court to clarify whether a non-custodial parent can use the act to block an adoption undertaken legally by a non-Indian parent under state law.

A state Family Court judge awarded custody of the child to the biological father last year and she was taken to Oklahoma.

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Jodi Rave Spotted Bear (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation)

Founder & Editor in Chief

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Location: Twin Buttes, North Dakota

Spoken Languages: English

Topic Expertise: Federal trust relationship with American Indians; Indigenous issues ranging from spirituality and environment to education and land rights

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