Posted on 06/29/2006 10:15:19 AM PDT by george wythe
The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday said that gays can qualify as foster parents and that barring them from parenting foster children was based on one group's view of morality.
In a unanimous ruling upholding a lower court decision that a state ban was unconstitutional, the high court said that no connection exists between a foster child's well-being and the sexual orientation of that child's foster parents.
Justices agreed with Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox's ruling that the ban seeks to regulate "public morality" _ something the board was not given the authority to do. And the high court said the state Child Welfare Agency Review Board in adopting the ban violated the separation of powers doctrine.
"There is no correlation between the health, welfare and safety of foster children and the blanket exclusion of any individual who is a homosexual or who resides in a household with a homosexual," Associate Justice Donald Corbin wrote in the opinion.
(Excerpt) Read more at pbcommercial.com ...
One group? Which group? Try a majority consisting of a diverse group. It's called common sense, which the court sorely lacks, apparently.
They have no authority to make this judgment and the other branches of gov't in that state should ignore the ruling.
Seriously, this is not in the best interests of the children, who of course have no say in this.
Even in many conservative states, the court are liberal leaning.
Poor kids.
Most judges are lawyers who are too dysfunctional to make a living practicing law, similar to college professors.
You're right. Poor kids. I looked at the link you provided, 1066. Absolutely terrible. And in line with NAMBLA all the way.
All these judges need to be impeached
Imagine this:
Hello Johnny. Are these your parents? Who's your Mommy?
This is what happens when you have an almost one party state and when you elect Republicans who are cowards and won't stand up for the people who elected them.
These judges are probably some of Bill Clinton's best 'friends'. They also didn't have a problem with him lying under oath apparently.
Can polygamist or beastiality people adopt now?
It's Illegal to play Bingo in Arkansas, the bingo games will be raided...The Bible thumpers are against gambling, so we don't have a State Lottery, which would solve many of our financial problems. And the public smoking ban takes effect next month..
So now, the moral Nanny State says it's just fine to place foster kids with homos? I guess if they don't drink or smoke they'll pass the moral compass test? I could scream..
sw
ping...
http://www.narth.com/docs/rekers.html
key document in arkansas case...
Yup. The Gov. knows whats best for us. /s
Lesbian couple found guilty of boy's murder (refused to call mom's dyke friend "daddy"!)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1603097/posts
Study finds disproportionate abuse by 'gays'
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1355028/posts
Experts Worldwide Find Gay Adoption Harmful for Children [Spanish Study Results]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1417036/posts
The State Boys Rebellion
http://www.simonsays.com/content/content.cfm?sid=33&pid=422319
Excerpt from link:
Though they couldn't possible know it, the children of the Fernald State School were the victims of bad science and a newly developed bureaucracy designed to save America from the so-called "menace of the feebleminded." Beginning early in the twentieth century, United States health officials used crude versions of the modern IQ tests to identify supposedly "deficient" children and lock them away. The idea was to protect society from potential criminals and to prevent so-called undesirables from having children and degrading the American gene pool......
...... It reveals the danger in misguided science, the fearsome power of unchecked bureaucracies,
Wow! Arkansas? I must say this surprises me. Arkansas used to be the most morally conservative State in the Union.
Uh. Clinton?
Okay y'all. Here's the Arkansas ping as requested. Sorry it is so late. Just got home.
Ark. high court says gays can be foster parent
LITTLE ROCK - The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday said that gays can qualify as foster parents and that barring them from parenting foster children was based on one group's view of morality.
In a unanimous ruling upholding a lower court decision that a state ban was unconstitutional, the high court said that no connection exists between a foster child's well-being and the sexual orientation of that child's foster parents.
Justices agreed with Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox's ruling that the ban seeks to regulate "public morality" _ something the board was not given the authority to do. And the high court said the state Child Welfare Agency Review Board in adopting the ban violated the separation of powers doctrine.
"There is no correlation between the health, welfare and safety of foster children and the blanket exclusion of any individual who is a homosexual or who resides in a household with a homosexual," Associate Justice Donald Corbin wrote in the opinion.
In addition, the court said the testimony of a board member demonstrated that "the driving force between adoption of the regulations was not to promote the health, safety and welfare of foster children but rather based upon the board's views of morality and its bias against homosexuals."
The ruling said the ban was "an attempt to legislate for the General Assembly with respect to public morality."
The Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services had appealed a 2004 decision by Fox, who said the child welfare board could not bar homosexuals from becoming foster parents. The board instituted the ban in March 1999, saying children should be in traditional two-parent homes because they are more likely to thrive in that environment.
Four Arkansans sued, saying homosexuals who otherwise qualified as foster parents had been discriminated against. They contended the ban violated their right to privacy and equal protection under the state and U.S. constitutions.
The Arkansas Supreme Court opinion Thursday also said that being raised by homosexuals doesn't cause academic problems or gender identity problems, as the state had argued.
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union represented the plaintiffs in the case. Rita Sklar, executive director of the ACLU in Arkansas, said she was pleased with the decision.
Arkansas Health and Human Services spokeswoman Julie Munsell said the state has followed Fox's direction not to use the ban and will continue to do so. Munsell said the department did not know if any homosexuals have applied to become foster parents, but said the plaintiffs have not sought foster parent status since Fox's ruling.
"We still obviously maintain that we are operating in the best interest of the children who are in foster care custody, but we will follow the instructions of the court in the application process," Munsell said.
Associate Justice Tom Glaze did not participate in the ruling. Replacing Glaze was Special Justice Franklin A. Poff, who joined in the decision.
In a concurring opinion, Associate Justice Robert L. Brown said the state's arguments for the ban "have no foundation in objective research." Brown said the trial court should have also found the policy violated constitutionally protected rights regarding privacy and equal-protection.
"There is no question but that gay and lesbian couples have had their equal-protection and privacy rights truncated without any legitimate and rational basis in the form of foster-child protection for doing so," Brown wrote.
The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday said that gays can qualify as foster parents and that barring them from parenting foster children was based on one group's view of morality.
In a concurring opinion, Associate Justice Robert L. Brown said the state's arguments for the ban "have no foundation in objective research." Brown said the trial court should have also found the policy violated constitutionally protected rights regarding privacy and equal-protection.
Many things objectively wrong with this ruling. Assuming no new findings of "fact" were presented and all "facts" were established by the lower court I would say the fix was in early on -a homosexual agenda judicial activist slam dunk facilitated by the ACLU. It would appear the Arkansas legislature can trump this activist ruling if the consensus is there to support such...
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