Title: William D.A., Sr. v. Shawna Renee A.  (dissenting)

State: west-virginia

Issuer: West Virginia Supreme Court

Document:

FILED January 6, 2000 DEBORAH L. McHENRY, CLERK SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS OF WEST VIRGINIA RELEASED January 7, 2000 DEBORAH L. McHENRY, CLERK SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS OF WEST VIRGINIA No. 25894 - William D. A., Sr. v. Shawna Renee A. and Stephen Everett A. Starcher, C. J., dissenting: I dissent. It is clear even in the majority opinion that: (1) an impoverished and distraught mother was urged by her former father-in-law, in a time of turmoil, to sign a paper giving up her children; (2) after less than 3 months, she repented of that action, and asked that the adoption proceedings be stopped; and (3) nearly 2 years later (all the while the children had been away from her), a court held that she had not been tricked or lied to, and had no right to change her mind. I would say that this mother did indeed have the right to see the truth -- that in a moment of grave distress, she had made a mistake in signing a paper that gave up her “rights” to raise the children she bore and loved -- and to act, after she saw the truth, to preserve her family and rectify that mistake. I would say that a court should respect and honor that truth, and allow that mistake to be corrected, not simply condone the powerful subduing of the weak. I would say that her former husband’s parents didn’t have the right to adopt her children, when their mother opposed it. Accordingly, I dissent.