Ark. Supreme Court showdown Thursday over law protecting adopted, foster children
ADF attorney available after oral arguments concerning voter-approved Act 1
Wednesday, Mar 16, 2011
WHO: ADF Senior Legal Counsel Byron Babione
WHAT: Available for media interviews after hearing in Cole v. Arkansas Department of Human Services
WHEN: Thursday, March 17, immediately following hearing, which begins at 9 a.m. CDT
WHERE: Arkansas Supreme Court, Justice Building, 625 Marshall St., Little Rock
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel Byron Babione will be available for media interviews Thursday after presenting his oral argument to the Arkansas Supreme Court in favor of voter-approved Act 1. Other ADF attorneys will also attend the hearing in the case, Cole v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union to attack the law.
The measure protects children who are adopted or placed into foster care, but an Arkansas judge struck down the law in a ruling last April that errantly characterized voters as attempting to target “homosexual couples…one politically unpopular group.” Act 1 clearly states that it “applies equally to cohabiting opposite-sex and same-sex individuals.”
“The needs of children outweigh the wants of adults,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Byron Babione. “Voters understand that children deserve the most stable home possible. The ACLU shouldn’t twist this into something it’s not--just to forward its political agenda. Arkansas voters cast their ballots to ensure that children wouldn’t be deprived of the best possible family environment and decisively approved Act 1 for that purpose only.”
The ADF opening brief filed with the Arkansas Supreme Court in September of last year states that the case “concerns an unprecedented court-imposed rule requiring that--for the first time--the State must begin knowingly placing vulnerable children in a historically unstable and unhealthy family structure…. The circuit court’s ruling conflicts with the purpose of the State’s adoption system, controlling Arkansas cases, the Arkansas Constitution, and common sense--all of which affirm the primacy of children’s needs rather than adults’ wants. This Court should reverse the judgment below and uphold the sounder judgment of the people of Arkansas about how to protect children in the State’s care.”
Voters passed Act 1 in November 2008--57 percent to 43 percent. The law reads, “A minor may not be adopted or placed in a foster home if the individual seeking to adopt or to serve as a foster parent is cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage which is valid under the constitution and laws of this state. The prohibition… applies equally to cohabiting opposite-sex and same-sex individuals.”
ADF attorneys represent the Family Council Action Committee, which carried out Act 1’s successful petition drive and campaign and is defending the act along with the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office. Martha Adcock, one of nearly 1,900 attorneys in the ADF alliance, is serving as local counsel in the case.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel Byron Babione will be available for media interviews Thursday after presenting his oral argument to the Arkansas Supreme Court in favor of voter-approved Act 1. Other ADF attorneys will also attend the hearing in the case, Cole v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union to attack the law.
The measure protects children who are adopted or placed into foster care, but an Arkansas judge struck down the law in a ruling last April that errantly characterized voters as attempting to target “homosexual couples…one politically unpopular group.” Act 1 clearly states that it “applies equally to cohabiting opposite-sex and same-sex individuals.”
“The needs of children outweigh the wants of adults,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Byron Babione. “Voters understand that children deserve the most stable home possible. The ACLU shouldn’t twist this into something it’s not--just to forward its political agenda. Arkansas voters cast their ballots to ensure that children wouldn’t be deprived of the best possible family environment and decisively approved Act 1 for that purpose only.”
The ADF opening brief filed with the Arkansas Supreme Court in September of last year states that the case “concerns an unprecedented court-imposed rule requiring that--for the first time--the State must begin knowingly placing vulnerable children in a historically unstable and unhealthy family structure…. The circuit court’s ruling conflicts with the purpose of the State’s adoption system, controlling Arkansas cases, the Arkansas Constitution, and common sense--all of which affirm the primacy of children’s needs rather than adults’ wants. This Court should reverse the judgment below and uphold the sounder judgment of the people of Arkansas about how to protect children in the State’s care.”
Voters passed Act 1 in November 2008--57 percent to 43 percent. The law reads, “A minor may not be adopted or placed in a foster home if the individual seeking to adopt or to serve as a foster parent is cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage which is valid under the constitution and laws of this state. The prohibition… applies equally to cohabiting opposite-sex and same-sex individuals.”
ADF attorneys represent the Family Council Action Committee, which carried out Act 1’s successful petition drive and campaign and is defending the act along with the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office. Martha Adcock, one of nearly 1,900 attorneys in the ADF alliance, is serving as local counsel in the case.
- Fact sheet on the case
- Pronunciation guide: Babione (BAB’-ee-own)
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.