Davis v. Thornburgh
| Decision Date | 15 May 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 89-1559,89-1559 |
| Citation | 903 F.2d 212 |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
| Parties | DAVIS, Sara Lynn, on behalf of herself and all persons similarly situated, Morris, Theresa Yochum, on behalf of themselves and all persons similarly situated v. THORNBURGH, Richard, Governor for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in his official capacity and Zimmerman, Leroy, Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in his official capacity and Cohen, Walter, Secretary of the Department of Welfare in his official capacity and McClinton, Mr. & Mrs. Kevin and Ullman, Roger, individually and as representative of a class of all intermediaries under the Pennsylvania Adoption Act and The Honorable Francis J. Catania in his official capacity and as a representative of a class of all trial judges in Pennsylvania. Appeal of Sara Lynn DAVIS. |
Ann S. Torregrossa (argued), Delaware Co. Legal Assistance Assn., Chester, Pa., for appellant.
Ernest D. Preate, Jr., Atty. Gen., Janice L. Anderson (argued), and Kate L. Mershimer, Deputy Attys. Gen., John G. Knorr, III, Chief Deputy Atty. Gen., Chief, Litigation
Section, Office of Attorney General, Harrisburg, Pa., for appellee Cohen.
Elizabeth R. Aaron (argued), Jon J. Auritt, Law Offices of Jon J. Auritt, Media, Pa., for appellees Kevin McClinton and Carole McClinton.
G. Guy Smith, Harris and Smith, Media, Pa., for appellee Roger Ullman.
Howard W. Abramson, Nancy E. Gilberg, Philadelphia, Pa., for appellee Hon. Francis J. Catania.
Before BECKER, GREENBERG, and NYGAARD, Circuit Judges.
This matter is before the court on appeal by Sara Lynn Davis from an order of June 8, 1989, entered June 9, 1989, finally dismissing this action and denying her motion to reconsider an oral determination of February 8, 1988, denying class action certification and dismissing this case and denying her motion to reconsider an order of February 5, 1988, granting one defendant a partial dismissal and another summary judgment. 1 The case involves proceedings under the Pennsylvania Adoption Act, 23 Pa.Cons.Stat.Ann. Sec. 2101 et seq. (Purdon 1989), and, in particular, claims asserted by Davis that parents placing their children through private intermediaries are denied due process and equal protection of the law. We will affirm. For convenience, we will cite to the Adoption Act using the sections as set forth in the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes. 2
We are constrained to describe at length the protracted procedural and factual history of this case which has involved numerous proceedings in both the Pennsylvania state courts and the district court. The matter may be said to have originated when Davis, who was not then married, gave birth to a child, Angela, on December 18, 1984. Davis was then 21 years old, was unemployed and had limited financial resources. 3 Thus, though she would have preferred to keep Angela, while still hospitalized following Angela's birth, Davis signed a consent form authorizing her placement in a private adoption. However, she promptly changed her mind and accordingly revoked the consent form and took Angela home from the hospital when Angela was discharged.
Thereafter Davis and Angela resided with the family of Davis's then boyfriend, who was not Angela's father. However, some months after Angela's birth, Davis gave Angela's father custody of her for a short time. In the summer of 1985 Davis was in difficult circumstances as she was compelled to move from her boyfriend's parents' home and needed a new place to live. Furthermore, she could not obtain employment yielding an income adequate for her needs, as she only had a tenth grade education. Accordingly, she concluded that her only recourse was to place Angela for adoption.
Consequently, Davis contacted Roger Ullman, an attorney in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, who acted as an intermediary in adoption proceedings, and asked him to arrange for Angela's adoption. On July 12, 1985, Davis signed a form consenting to Angela's adoption, prepared by Ullman in accordance with Adoption Act Sec. 2711(d)(1), and thus including the language required by that section. The form provided that Davis did "hereby consent to the adoption of said minor child," "fully understands that by these proceedings she surrenders forever all her rights as a parent of said minor child to the end that said minor child may be adopted by said undisclosed adopting parents," "waives and releases any and all rights relating to the care, custody, and welfare of said minor child," and "permanently give[s] up all rights to this child." It further set forth that Davis On the day that the form was signed, July 12, 1985, Davis gave custody of Angela to Ullman and Davis has never since seen her.
At the same time that Davis was giving up Angela for adoption, Kevin and Carole McClinton, a married couple from New Jersey, were seeking to adopt a child. Through advice from a relative, they were advised that an attorney working with a public agency, Delaware County Children and Youth Services, had a baby available for adoption. This attorney was Ullman and the McClintons got in touch with him, made arrangements to take custody of Angela and, on July 13, 1985, picked her up and took her to their New Jersey home. At that time, they paid $2,500 into escrow to Ullman to cover fees. They also signed a form required by Adoption Act Sec. 2531(b)(5) which provided that they understood that the natural parent could "revoke the consent to the adoption of this child until a court has entered a decree terminating the parental rights, and, unless a decree terminating parental rights has been entered, the natural parent may revoke the consent until a court enters the final adoption." 4
Davis changed her mind about the adoption almost at once and, on July 16, 1985, she advised Ullman that she wanted to revoke her consent and have Angela returned. Angela, however, was not returned and therefore on August 27, 1985, Davis wrote a letter to Ullman and to Judge Francis J. Catania of the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County, Orphan's Court Division, revoking the consent to adoption executed on July 12, 1985. 5 Nevertheless Angela was still not returned to Davis. Rather, Ullman, acting as an intermediary under the Adoption Act, that is, a person acting between the parent and proposed adoptive parents in arranging an adoption placement, see Adoption Act Sec. 2102, filed a report of intermediary, see Adoption Act Sec. 2533, and a report of the intention to adopt on behalf of the McClintons on September 10, 1985, see Adoption Act Sec. 2531, seeking to confirm Davis's consent to the adoption.
A hearing was held on September 23, 1985, in Judge Catania's chambers. It appears that no evidence was taken at that time and that the only persons present were the judge, Ullman, Davis and Davis's attorney, Suzanne Noble, a legal services attorney. Judge Catania determined that Davis had timely and validly revoked the consent but he ruled that the McClintons could keep Angela, Delaware County Children and Youth Services should do a home study on Davis, and the Child Guidance Mental Health and Mental Retardation Clinic of Delaware County should make an examination of Davis.
On the same day, Davis, apparently represented by Noble, initiated a separate proceeding in the Delaware County courts, seeking custody of Angela. Those proceedings were, however, stayed on October 30, 1985, by an order of Judge Catania "pending resolution of the adoption case." 6
On November 7, 1985, the McClintons filed a petition to terminate Davis's parental rights under Adoption Act Sec. 2512, and this petition was served on Davis on November 13, 1985. A hearing originally scheduled on the McClintons' petition for December 2, 1985, was, over Davis's objection, postponed until January 7, 1986, when Davis, represented by an attorney, appeared to contest the matter. A plenary hearing was held with testimony taken over the course of several days. On January 28, 1986, the court entered a decree "that the prayer of the [McClintons] be granted and that the parental rights of [Davis] to [Angela], are hereby relinquished, extinguished and terminated and custody of [Angela] is awarded to [the McClintons]."
Judge Catania filed a comprehensive opinion explaining his decision. 7 While it is not necessary to set forth all the facts, they should be highlighted. The evidence showed that Davis had lived with Angela's father before her birth and that the main problem between them stemmed from her use of drugs. Ultimately the relationship ruptured and they were separated when Angela was born. They did, however, have some contact after the birth and at Davis's insistence the father signed papers giving up his parental rights. During the fall of 1985, Davis held several jobs but, according to her employers, she lost them because of her absences from work and shortages from cash registers attributed to her. Testimony of Paul Snyder, her boyfriend's father, in whose home she had been living, showed that in the six months that she lived there with Angela after Angela's birth, Davis did not show affection towards her. Judge Catania accepted Snyder's testimony that he never saw Davis kiss Angela and that whenever anyone else was available to take care of Angela, Davis was anxious to let that person do it.
The judge noted that Davis had previously been married and that her first husband testified that they had lived together in Canada, separated in December 1983, and that she had not been back to see her two...
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