SC couple appeals custody case involving Oklahoma Native American girl to Supreme Court
Founder & Editor in Chief
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.
Jodi Rave Spotted Bear (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation)
Founder & Editor in Chief
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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