Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The state Department of Human Services and a conservative group have appealed a judge’s ruling that struck down Arkansas’ voter-approved ban on unmarried couples serving as foster or adoptive parents.
The case is now before the Arkansas Supreme Court, after Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza ruled in April that the ban is unconstitutional. The high court set a Sept. 21 deadline for legal briefs in the case after the state and the Family Action Council Committee appealed the ruling.
Voters approved the ban in November 2008. It bars unmarried couples from fostering or adopting children, and effectively prohibits gays and lesbians from doing so because same-sex marriage is illegal in Arkansas.
The high court could hear oral arguments in the case as soon as this fall.
1 Comment
I really hope the judge’s ruling stands, but we’ve also got to look at who is bringing this appeal: The Arkansas’ Department of Human Services which sets many of the basic standards that each county human services department must follow. These are the counties that must first APPROVE a Home Study before ANY couple is allowed to adopt. And each county has their own social workers who complete the Home Studies and rely on their own judgments when recommending a family be approved or not. Good luck. I hope there’s not still mountains of work to be done…