The mainstream media has continued to make repeated factual errors when reporting on the high profile Supreme Court custody case involving a Native American father and his daughter. The latest are today’s Washington Post and New York Times editorial board opinions of Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, being heard today by the Supreme Court. The misrepresentations are significant, one sided, and a direct affront to Native American family values. The facts of the case are straightforward: Dusten Brown is an Iraq war veteran and a member of the Cherokee Nation. He understands service and commitment and nothing could be clearer than his commitment to his daughter Veronica. Veronica is Brown’s now 3 1/2-year-old daughter; Veronica and Dusten now are a family together in Oklahoma. Veronica’s father and mother were engaged when she was conceived. When Dusten Brown first learned of the pregnancy, he begged his fiancé to marry him right away, to move into military housing on base with him, and even suggested she quit her job so that she could focus on their unborn child. He pledged to financially support her, their child and even her children from another relationship.Get the Story:
Jacqueline Pata: Baby Veronica and Native American Family Values (Indian Country Today 4/16) Oral Argument Transcript:
Adoptive Couple v. Cherokee Nation (April 16, 2013) South Carolina Supreme Court Decision:
Adoptive Couple v. Cherokee Nation (July 26, 2012) Related Stories:
NARF/NCAI/NICWA: Case shows ugly side of adoption industry (4/16)
Jacqueline Davis: An Indian family torn apart in South Carolina (4/16)
Turtle Talk: More interruptions for tribal interests in ICWA case (4/16)
SCOTUSBlog: No easy answers in Indian Child Welfare Act case (4/16)
Supreme Court takes up dispute over Indian Child Welfare Act (4/16)
Editorial: Supreme Court should take Cherokee girl from father (4/16)
Editorial: Congress may need to limit Indian Child Welfare Act (4/16)
Tribes gear up for big battle with Supreme Court's ICWA case (4/15)
Column: Supreme Court set to hear racially-tinged ICWA case (4/15)
ICT interview with Cherokee Nation attorney on ICWA dispute (4/11)
Supreme Court sets times for oral argument in ICWA dispute (4/2)
Turtle Talk: Guide to briefs in Supreme Court's ICWA dispute (3/29)
DOJ submits brief in support of Cherokee father in ICWA case (3/18)
Wisbar News: Possible brief in Supreme Court's ICWA dispute (3/8)
Tribes line up support as Supreme Court takes up ICWA dispute (3/6)
Blog: Supreme Court hears Cherokee Nation ICWA case in April (3/5)
Supreme Court to hear Cherokee Nation ICWA case on April 16 (02/14)
NYT Debate: Indian Child Welfare Act and the Supreme Court (01/25)
Supreme Court ruling could impact ICWA cases nationwide (1/14)
Analysis: Media fails in coverage of Cherokee ICWA dispute (1/14)
Supreme Court takes first Indian Child Welfare Act case in years (1/7)
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