You’re Breaking Up: The Faulty Connection Between Congressional Intent and Supreme Court Interpretation in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, 133 S. Ct. 2552 (2013)

Authors

Danielle J. Larson, University of Nebraska College of Law

Abstract

I. Introduction

II. Background ... A. Legislative History of ICWA [Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978] ... 1. Indian Child Removal Pre-ICWA ... 2. Factors Driving Removal Rates ... a. Physical Abuse ... b. Ethnocentrism ... c. Institutional Structure ... B. Overview of ICWA ... C. Existing Indian Family Exception ... D. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield

III. Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl … A. Facts ... B. Opinions Below ... C. Supreme Court Opinion

IV. Analysis ... A. Birth Father Is a Parent Under ICWA and Should Have Been Afforded Its Protections ... B. ICWA Does Not Support the Interpretation the Court Gave It … 1. Congress Did Not Intend to Require a Parent to Have Had Prior Custody in Order to Invoke ICWA’s Protections ... 2. The Court’s Construction of “Continued” Amounted to an Amendment of the Statute, Expanding the Types of Parents Excluded from ICWA ... 3. ICWA’s Idea of “Breakup” Connotes Far More Than the Court Allowed It To ... 4. What Place for the Existing Indian Family Exception? ... C. Applying ICWA to Noncustodial Parents Does Not Raise Public Policy Concerns

V. Conclusion

Recommended Citation

Danielle J. Larson, You’re Breaking Up: The Faulty Connection Between Congressional Intent and Supreme Court Interpretation in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, 133 S. Ct. 2552 (2013), 93 Neb. L. Rev. 517 (2014)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr/vol93/iss2/7