Adam Liptak's article, "Case Pits Adoptive Parents Against Tribal Rights" that was published in the New York Times on December 24, 2012 makes connections between a past Supreme Court decision from 1989 that involved the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and voluntary adoptions and the current "Baby Veronica" case that will be heard by the Supreme Court regarding the voluntary adoption of a Native American child to a white couple. In both cases, a Native American child was voluntarily placed by parents or one of the parents with a white couple for adoption. In both cases, the tribes were not notified, despite the fact that ICWA requires adoption agencies to do so. And, in both cases, by the time the tribe found out about the intended adoption, the children had already been placed with the white parents and strong attachments had been formed. In the 1989 case, the Supreme Court ruled that the children should be returned to the tribe. In the current case, it is unknown what the ruling will be.
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