SC Court Accepts Appeal of ICWA Case

If you've been following the story of the 2-year-old, adopted at birth, who was returned to her biological father, the South Carolina Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case at the request of the adoptive parents:

The South Carolina Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving a 2-year-old girl whose adoptive parents had to turn her over to her biological father on New Year's Eve.

The (Charleston) Post and Courier reported Monday that Matt and Melanie Capobianca turned over the girl to her biological father, 30-year-old Dusten Brown, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation from Oklahoma.

The Capobiancos must file their first briefs by Thursday.

The couple says they adopted the girl when she was born in 2009 from the biological mother. Brown filed for custody four months later.

Brown's attorney argued that the girl's biological mother concealed her plans to put their daughter up for adoption, and that Brown believed he signed his custody rights to the mother.

Interesting that the article doesn't mention ICWA at all.  I addressed some of the ICWA issues here. It's possible to challenge the adoption on grounds other than ICWA, of course.  The birth father's attorney seems to be arguing that the father's consent was involuntary because it was based on misinformation.  That's a valid legal ground in adoption law, separate and apart from the ICWA issues.