Doe v. Sundquist

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

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Nature of the Case

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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.