Opinion ID: 1497216
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Edward Galison

Text: Appellant Galison is an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of New York. Prior to August 31, 1976, his associate, Spiegelman, was contacted in New York by a Florida attorney. The Florida attorney explained that he had been unable to arrange for an adoption in Florida of the expected child of a Florida resident. Upon locating a New York family that would agree to adopt the child, Spiegelman suggested to his Florida contact that the mother come to New York for the child's delivery. The expectant mother, however, indicated that she would be willing to travel only as far as the District of Columbia. The Florida attorney and Spiegelman arranged for the woman and her mother (the grandmother), to stay in the District of Columbia beginning on August 31, 1976. Upon arrival in the District, the woman had a change of heart and decided that she would keep the child. She so advised Galison, who thereupon came to the District of Columbia and persuaded her that adoption was the right thing to do. After he informed her that her medical and living expenses in the District would be paid for and that she would receive $2,000 in addition to her medical and living expenses, she executed documents by which she consented to the proposed adoption and authorized the hospital to release her yet-unborn child to appellant. Later, in September, the expectant mother again desired to abandon the adoption plans and contacted Galison to inform him that she wanted to return to Florida. Galison explained that the prospective parents were waiting for the baby to be delivered and reminded her of the money that they had provided for her. Because of the money involved, the woman decided to remain in the District. In October, one week before the baby was born, the grandmother telephoned Galison regarding a Washington newspaper article which stated that it was illegal to arrange an adoption without going through an agency. Galison assured the grandmother that his actions were legitimate. Galison then spoke with the woman and played on her sensitivities by telling her that the prospective parents had not contributed any of the money for her expenses, that he had taken the money from his own pocket and that she should consider all the money invested in her thus far. The woman relented. Subsequent to the October 19th birth of the baby, the mother once again decided that she wanted to keep the baby, but she was afraid of the money I owed and the money that he had invested in me. I was afraid to back out. I didn't know what to do. The grandmother contacted a social worker, and, as a result, the police were advised of the circumstances of the proposed child placement. Galison, meanwhile, once again attempted to persuade the mother to continue with the planned placement by arguing that it was in everyone's best interest and by reminding her that there was already $6,000 invested in her. The grandmother then obtained the release of the baby from the hospital, received approximately $2,200 from Galison, and gave the baby to Galison. Upon leaving the hospital with the baby, Galison was arrested. We are asked to decide whether Congress intended the Baby Broker Act to prohibit Galison's activities. We resolve the issue in the affirmative. The purpose of the District's Baby Broker Act is expressed in D.C. Code 1973, § 32-781: The purpose of this chapter is to secure for each child under sixteen years of age who is placed in a family home, other than his own or that of a relative within the third degree, such care and guidance as will serve the child's welfare and the best interests of the District of Columbia; and to secure for him custody and care as near as possible to that which should have been given him by his parents. To fulfill the purposes of the Act, i. e., to assure the care and guidance necessary for the welfare of the child and to protect the interests of the District, Congress required registration and licensing of individuals placing children. This requirement is evident in the specific provision of the Act with which appellant Galison is charged as having violated: No person other than the parent, guardian, or relative within the third degree, and no firm, corporation, association, or agency, other than a licensed child-placing agency, may place or arrange or assist in placing or arranging for the placement of a child under sixteen years of age in a family home or for adoption. . . . [D.C.Code 1973, § 32-785.] The penalty for violation of § 32-785 is set forth in § 32-788. [2] On its face, § 32-785 proscribes all placement activities regardless of where they occur and regardless of the relationship of the individuals involved to the District. As § 32-781 states, however, the act was intended to apply only to situations in which the District has an interest (including the interest in serving the child's welfare). Therefore, some contact affecting a District of Columbia governmental interest, which is protected by the Act, must be shown before § 32-785 becomes applicable. Indeed, all parties in this case agreed that a placement must bear some relationship to the District to be proscribed by the Baby Broker Act. The government's position is that § 32-785 applies in all cases involving geographical contact with the District. Under this interpretation, this section would require the registration of any person, who is not specifically excluded by the Act's other sections, [3] who carries on any child-placing activity within the geographical boundaries of the District. [4] Viewing § 32-785 with regard to the framework of the chapter as a whole, however, we hold that a minimal or coincidental geographical contact alone is insufficient and that a substantial additional nexus is required. Three sections of the Baby Broker Act indicate that § 32-785 applies only to placements which have a substantial nexus with the District. Section 32-786(a) requires that every relinquishment of parental rights shall be recorded and filed in a properly sealed file in the Family Division of the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. . .. This legislation connotes the District's interest in the stability of District families and the welfare of District children by requiring that an official, albeit sealed, record be kept of the placement of the District's children. Another provision, § 32-782, provides that [n]o [unlicensed] child-placing agency shall be maintained in the District of Columbia[.] [5] This provision of the Act is intended to prevent fly-by-night groups [which] might spring up. . .[,] engage in occasional [unregulated] placements and utilize the District as a base for their operation. ( Hearings on H.R. 2618 Before a Subcomm. of the Senate Comm. on the District of Columbia, 78th Cong., 2d Sess. 10 (1944) (statement of Miss A. Patricia Morss). A third section evidencing Congress' concern for placement activities which bear a substantial nexus to the District, § 32-785a, reads as follows: Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter, the [Mayor] [is] authorized to enter into agreements with any person. . . licensed or authorized by a State or country for the care and placement of minors, permitting such person. . . to place nonresident children in foster or adopting homes in the District of Columbia. . . . [Emphasis added.] The District's interest manifest in this section of the Act is the regulation of the placement of children in the homes of District families. These provisions indicate some of the substantial District interests intended to be protected by the Act. These provisions also suggest that Congress intended these sections, at least, to be applied only when the District has a significant interest in the placement activity. [6] On the basis of this discussion and after analysis of the statute, we find that § 32-785 requires a substantial nexus similar to those required by the other sections of the statute mentioned above. The test to be used in determining the applicability of § 32-785 in this case, then, is whether the District has a significant interest in Galison's attempted placement. We are of the opinion that the attempted placement by Galison offended two substantial interests of the District. The first interest is to protect the parental rights of natural mothers residing in the District. This is accomplished by regulating placement activity carried on within the District. Here, the natural mother resided in the District for a period of approximately two months. The woman's stay was not due to medical reasons alone, but was attributable primarily to an adoption plan developed by Galison. The plan provided that the woman remain in the District until the birth of the baby, at which time she would be required to surrender her child to Galison. After arriving in the District, she became an uncooperative if not an unwilling partner in the plan. Her discontent prompted Galison to undertake activities which were designed to persuade her to change her mind. Since the woman was residing in the District, the District had an interest in protecting her parental rights over her child, which were threatened by Galison's conduct. Inasmuch as Galison was not licensed to engage in such activity, he became subject to the sanctions of the Baby Broker Act. A closely-related District interest is to protect mothers within the District from being coerced, compelled, forced or pressured to feel constrained or obliged to yield up their infants whether by threats of violence, financial withdrawal, or derision, regardless of how oblique or veiled the pressure may be. There is no requirement that the mother reside in the District to receive this protection. If pressure is exerted upon a mother while in the District to make a decision to surrender her child, the guardianship of the District is invoked. Here, on four separate occasions following her arrival in the District, the natural mother indicated to Galison that she had changed her mind and did not want to give up her child. [7] In each instance, discussions or negotiations ensued in which Galison attempted to persuade the woman to place the child. He reminded her of the expenses which he had incurred in anticipation of the child's adoption, of her personal gain of $2,000 for surrendering the child, and of the expectation of the family waiting to adopt the newborn child. On two of these occasions, Galison visited the District. The first time was for the purpose of pressuring the mother into going through with the placement. The second visit was with the intent of taking the child to New York, which Galison would have done, after overcoming the mother's express desire to keep the child, had he not been arrested. The mother's conduct after arrival in the District and her testimony at trial leaves no doubt that her compliance with Galison's plan was simply submission resulting from her fear of being unable to repay the investment which Galison claimed to have made in her. We, therefore, conclude that the District's interest in protecting the mother from any pressure to relinquish her child was offended by Galison's activities, and the provisions of the Act, as a consequence, became applicable. Galison argues that the government failed to prove that he was not licensed at the time of the alleged offense. We disagree. The record shows that during the months of September and October of 1976, when appellant engaged in action that violated the Act, he was a New York State practicing attorney, but not a licensed child-placing agency in the District of Columbia. At trial, the government called the acting chief of Licensing and Certification as a witness. While his testimony was not a model of conciseness, it was sufficient to permit the court to find that Galison was unlicensed. Specifically, the witness testified on direct examination that his responsibility is to license all the child-placing agencies in the District, that he had searched the records and found no Edward Galison licensed to place children for adoption, and that there are six child-placing agencies in the District that are licensed. On cross-examination, the witness, under questioning by the defense, identified each of the six licensed child-placing agencies in the District. During recross-examination, the court engaged in the following colloquy with the witness: THE COURT: . . . Mr. Sauls [the witness], you've indicated that you searched the records and you found no license for Mr. Galison. Was that as of October 1976? Was there a license existent at that time? THE WITNESS: Yes. THE COURT: He did have a license at that time? THE WITNESS: Oh, no; no.       THE COURT: Are you unable to say whether he had a license in October 1976? THE WITNESS: . . . I know that I have not found licensed Mr. Galison. . .       I have not licensed Mr. Galison as an individual. We cannot do that according to the D.C.Code. It has to be a licensed placement agency, and not an individual. While the witness may have been incorrect as a matter of law about the code's mandate, [8] his unimpeached assertion, as chief of licensing, was that (1) he had not licensed appellant as a child-placing agency, and (2) there were only certain child-placing agencies in the District, of which appellant Galison was not one. Galison also claims that the government failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was not a relative within the third degree of the child. ( See supra note 3.) We endorse the trial court's determination that Galison had the burden of proving, as an affirmative defense, his relationship to the child. Absent that proof, this claim is dismissed as lacking merit. See James v. United States, D.C.App., 350 A.2d 748, 749 (1976). Accordingly, there is in fact evidence sufficient to support the court's judgment of conviction.