The New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously recognized a right to free legal representation for low-income parents challenging private adoptions of their children. This Supreme Court decision found for the first time in New Jersey that low-income parents have a right to counsel in proceedings to end parental rights, even when the adoption is initiated by a private party.
More >> Poor parents have right to representation when challenging private adoptions, NJ Supreme Court rules
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ReplyDeleteOne just Justice! Good to see.
Samantha's Law: Canadian legislation to promote family-centred care and unity. Individuals with diverse medical needs are to be served distinctly apart from the Child Welfare Model. Supports provided directly to families without coercion of custody.
Velvet Martin,
Founder of Samantha's Law
Spokesperson for Protecting Canadian Children
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9nlSwiPfwc&sns=tw
LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2016, 6:48 AM
N.J. Supreme Court rules birth mom has right to lawyer in custody case
New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner:
To protect “the invaluable right to raise a child,” the justices ruled that the mother must get new proceedings at the trial court as she seeks to reunite with her specialneeds daughter, now 6 years old.
“Given the fundamental nature of the right to parent that may be lost forever in a disputed adoption hearing, there is no room for error here,” Chief Justice Stuart Rabner wrote in a unanimous opinion, upholding a decision issued last year by the state Appellate Division.
All poor parents have a constitutional right to an attorney when New Jersey’s child welfare agency seeks to remove children from their care.
“The policy in our state is not to remove children from less capable parents for the purpose of placing them with more capable parents, those with more economic resources, nor those who are better educated.”
New Jersey’s child-welfare agency did not receive complaints about L.A. or seek to take custody of her child. The family law judge who terminated L.A.’s parental rights did not find her to be negligent or abusive, a drug user, an alcoholic or mentally unfit to care for her daughter.