Doe v. Sundquis

106 F.3d 702 (6th Cir. 1997)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

From 1951 to 1996, sealed adoption records were available in Tennessee only upon court order that disclosure was 'in the best interest of the child or of the public.' A new law was passed that allowed all adoption records to be made available to an adopted person who is twenty-one (21) years of age or older, the legal representative of [such] a person, and the information was to be released only to the parents, siblings, lineal descendants, or lineal ancestors, of the adopted person, and only with the express written consent [of] the adopted person. The law also provides for a 'contact veto,' under which a parent, sibling, spouse, lineal ancestor, or lineal descendant of an adopted person may register to prevent contact by the adopted person. Ps filed this suit in district court. The court granted a temporary restraining order preventing state officials from enforcing the statute. The court eventually denied Ps' motion for a preliminary injunction and motion to consolidate the preliminary injunction hearing with a hearing on the merits. Ps appealed, and a Sixth Circuit panel granted a stay prohibiting enforcement of the law pending an expedited appeal.