Adoption of Baby Boy D, Matter of, 62024

• Decision Date: 12 November 1985
• Docket Number: No. 62024,62024
• Citation: 742 P.2d 1059
• Parties: , 1985 OK 93 In the Matter of the ADOPTION OF BABY BOY D, a minor child.
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

Page 1059

742 P.2d 1059

54 USLW 2355, 1985 OK 93

In the Matter of the ADOPTION OF BABY BOY D, a minor child.

No. 62024.

Supreme Court of Oklahoma.

Nov. 12, 1985.

Rehearing Denied Sept. 16, 1987.

Susan Work Haney, Gary Taylor, Oklahoma City, for appellant.

William Buxton, Leach, Sullivan, Green & Buxton, Duncan, Rex K. Travis, Oklahoma City, J. Michael Viscosi, Duncan, for appellees.

SUMMERS, Justice.

Appellant was a 19 year old member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma when his former girlfriend, an unmarried 17 year old non-Indian, gave birth to Baby Boy D. With her consent the infant was adopted by the appellees, a married couple. After learning of the adoption without notice to him and without his consent, he filed a petition in the District Court, claiming to be the father and seeking to vacate the adoption.

Appellant's Petition to Vacate requested that the Decree of Adoption be set aside on the grounds that (1) Baby Boy D was an Indian child as defined by the Indian Child Welfare Act ¹ (ICWA), and that the adoption proceedings are subject to invalidation thereby ² (2) that the appellant was denied due process, that is to say, notice and the opportunity to be heard, and (3) the Decree was subject to being vacated on the grounds of fraud practiced on the court by the natural mother. He also sought custody of the child.

The trial court found (1) that the appellant lacked standing to urge the vacation of the Decree of Adoption, (2) that the ICWA was not applicable, and (3) that no relationship existed between the appellant and Baby Boy D which would give rise to standing predicated on constitutional principles, citing Lehr v. Robertson, ³ Caban v. Mohammed, ⁴ and Quilloin v. Walcott. ⁵ The trial court sustained the special appearance, objection to the jurisdiction of Prior to dismissal of the Petition to Vacate, the trial court also denied the appellant's motion to proceed in forma pauperis and his motion to compel the natural mother to answer forty-nine (49) questions certified to the court by appellant's attorney.

the court and motion to quash of the appellee adoptive parents and the Petition to Vacate Decree of Adoption was dismissed.

FACTS

The appellant and the natural mother met in January, 1982 in Shawnee where they both lived. They continued to date for seven months until August 15, 1982. Appellant then left Shawnee to go to an Indian school at Eufaula. [Tr. p. 122-123]. Although appellant knew when he left Shawnee for Eufaula that the mother was pregnant, he gave no thought to his future with the baby and did nothing as far as a commitment to the mother or baby. [Tr. p. 98, 121, 130] While at Eufaula Indian School from August 15, 1982 to December 22, 1982 he telephoned the mother in September [Tr. p. 91] and, although he made five or six trips to Indian "stomp dances" at Seminole approximately 17 or 18 miles from Shawnee and came to Shawnee at Thanksgiving [Tr. p. 100 and 126], he made no attempt to contact the mother. [Tr. p. 99, 127] After three months at the Indian school (around November, 1982) the appellant again "just lost interest in school" [Tr. p. 131] and on December 22, 1982 came back to Shawnee. He did not, however, tell the natural mother about his return. [Tr. p. 131] He remained in Shawnee from December 22, 1982 until March 1, 1983 during which time he neither called the mother nor wrote her a letter. [Tr. p. 133, 134] Appellant had two contacts with the mother during that time, neither initiated by him. On December 24, 1982, he "bumped into" the natural mother at a record store in Shawnee but he did not discuss the baby's future. [Tr. p. 101] The other contact occurred February 2, 1983 when the natural mother came to his home to tell him she was going to put the baby up for adoption and that she did not want any interference from him. He made no objection or response. He did not want to have anything to do with the mother or the child. [Tr. p. 135-137]

Approximately on March 1, 1983 appellant went to Muskogee to live with his brother and go to school there. [Tr. p. 103, 104] Again, he did not tell the natural mother, whose baby he knew was due the end of March or first of April, that he was going. [Tr. p. 154] During the entire time, appellant never suggested to his family that the natural mother was pregnant with his child. They learned accidentally when a member of the family heard about it and told the appellant's father's mother. At that point on March 30, 1983 four days before the birth of the child, appellant still had no interest. [Tr. p. 138]

Throughout the mother's pregnancy, appellant did not make an effort to assist the natural mother in any way. He did not offer financial support nor did he offer to marry her. [Tr. p. 124, 132, 141] The baby was born on April 4, 1983. Appellant first contacted the natural mother by telephone on the 22nd or 27th of April, 1983. [Tr. 140] He never told the natural mother he wanted the child until after May 25, 1983 when his suit was filed. [Tr. p. 144]

ISSUES

The following issues are presented on appeal:

(1) Whether an unwed father of a newborn child has standing to challenge the constitutionality of the Oklahoma adoption statutes that allowed the adoption of his newborn child without his consent, and did not require he be given notice and an opportunity to be heard.

(2) Whether an unwed Indian father of a newborn child has standing under the Federal and Oklahoma Indian Child Welfare Acts to challenge the adoption of his child.

(3) Whether the Oklahoma Adoption statutes allowing the adoption of a child born out of wedlock without the consent of the natural father and without requiring notice and the opportunity to be heard to the unwed father are constitutional.

(4) Whether under the facts of this case, the denial of forma pauperis status was contrary to law and a denial of due process.

(5) Whether the trial court erred in overruling the appellant's motion to compel wherein the appellant requested the trial court to compel the natural mother to answer forty-nine (49) questions certified to the court by appellant.

I.

DOES APPELLANT HAVE STANDING TO CHALLENGE THE

CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE OKLAHOMA ADOPTION STATUTES?

"Standing" is the legal right of a person to challenge the conduct of another in a judicial forum. ⁶ The United States Supreme Court has stated:

"When standing is placed in issue in a case, the question is whether the person whose standing is challenged, is a proper party to request an adjudication of a particular issue and not whether the issue itself is justiciable." ⁷

As this court has stated:

" 'Standing' is the right to commence litigation, to take the initial step that frames legal issues for ultimate adjudication by a court or jury." ⁸

When standing of a party is brought into issue, the focus is on the party seeking to get his complaint before the court and not on the issues he wishes to have adjudicated. ⁹ On review of the trial court's ruling on the appellant's standing, it is not necessary to decide whether appellant will ultimately be entitled to any relief but whether he has the legal right to seek judicial redress for his grievance. The proper inquiry concerning standing is whether the defendant has in fact suffered injury to a legally protected interest as contemplated by statutory or constitutional provisions. ¹⁰

In his amended petition, appellant alleged inter alia, that he is the natural father of Baby Boy D, that a final decree of adoption has been entered for Baby Boy D, and that the relinquishment and adoption of the child by maternal consent alone as authorized by 10 O.S. §§ 60.5(2) and 10 O.S. § 29(2)(g) violated his rights of due process guaranteed by the 5th and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution.

As a matter of law, his legal rights and interest in his newborn child were terminated by the adoption proceeding if the adoption is allowed to stand. He alleges that this liberty interest has been denied without due process of law. Focusing our consideration on the appellant and the allegations in his petition, we find that he has standing to challenge the adoption statutes of this state on the basis of his allegations that he was denied his liberty interest in his son.

II.

DOES APPELLANT HAVE STANDING TO CHALLENGE THIS ADOPTION

UNDER THE FEDERAL AND OKLAHOMA INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACTS?

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) ¹¹ is structured around the concern "that an alarmingly high percentage of Indian families are broken up by the removal, often unwarranted, of their children from them by nontribal public and private agencies" and placed in non-Indian homes and institutions. ¹² Congress has declared the policy of this Nation in passing the ICWA as follows "... [T]o protect the best interest of Indian children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families by the establishment of minimum federal standards for the removal of Indian children from their families and the placement of such children in foster or adoptive homes which will reflect the unique values of Indian culture...." ¹³

The central thrust and concern of the ICWA is, therefore, "the establishment of minimum federal standards for the removal of Indian children from their families".

Numerous provisions of the act support this conclusion.

Section 1901(4) states:

"[A]n alarmingly high percentage of Indian families are broken up by the removal, often unwarranted, of their children from them...."

Section 1911(a) provides exclusive jurisdiction in the Indian tribe:

"Over any child custody proceeding involving an Indian child who resides or is domiciled within the reservation...."

Section 1912 addresses pending court proceedings. Subsection (d) requires:

"Any party seeking to effect a foster care placement of, or termination of parental rights to, an Indian child under State law shall satisfy the court that active efforts have been made to provide remedial services and rehabilitative...