Opinion ID: 2197540
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the does' standing to seek custody

Text: The Does' standing to maintain their petition for custody of Richard derives from Illinois statutory and case law, including the long line of habeas corpus cases in which the necessary party status of persons in the Does' situation was never questioned. Our legislature has enacted specific provisions, pursuant to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (Marriage Act) (750 ILCS 5/101 et seq. (West 1992)) and the Adoption Act (750 ILCS 50/1 et seq. (West 1992)), which prescribe the legal procedures to be followed when a child is subject to competing claims for custody. As explained below, section 601(b)(2) of the Marriage Act implicitly provides for persons in the Does' position to petition for custody of a child who is not in the physical custody of a parent. Under the recent amendments to the Adoption Act, persons in the circumstances of the Does are explicitly recognized as necessary participants in a custody hearing following a failed or vacated adoption. Significantly, the Adoption Act amendments demonstrate the legislature's clear intent to insure that long-standing custody law is not defeated by an elevation of the biological parent's rights into an automatic and conclusive presumption that the child's best interest is with that parent. My conviction that the Does have standing, or a legally recognized interest in the outcome of Richard's custody placement, is also partially rooted in common sense, which recognizes their central role in his life as his parents in every sense of the word except biologically. Moreover, they are the only ones who have ever had legal and physical custody of the child, following the voluntary termination of the biological mother's rights four days after the baby was born. Case law reveals that they not only have standing but are necessary and proper parties to such hearing. E.g., Mahon v. People ex rel. Robertson (1905), 218 Ill. 171, 75 N.E. 768. The majority's conclusion that the Does and the guardian ad litem lack standing, as a matter of law, stems in part from its erroneous premise, discussed in the previous section, that only Otakar Kirchner has standing to exclusively determine what is in Richard's best interests. Before considering what Illinois statutory law provides on the standing issue, the majority returns to its stated belief that cases of the United States Supreme Court support the supremacy of Kirchner's rights in this case. The majority reaches a holding that clearly derives from its view of Federal constitutional law, despite the majority's statement that its decision is based solely on Illinois law. (164 Ill.2d at 486, 208 Ill.Dec. at 277, 649 N.E.2d at 333.) The majority holds, [W]here an unwed father is fit and willing to develop a relationship with and raise his child, but is prevented from doing so through deceit and an invalid adoption proceeding, that father is entitled to the care, custody and control of his child upon the subsequent vacatur of the invalid adoption. 164 Ill.2d at 489-90, 208 Ill.Dec. at 278, 649 N.E.2d at 334. In later sections of this dissent I discuss the pertinent Federal cases in detail and explain why I believe that the majority's due process analysis is misguided. However, the Illinois statutory provisions on standing are independent of and do not need to refer to Federal due process cases, unless the majority is now holding that section 601(b)(2) is unconstitutional as applied to custody disputes such as the one in the case at bar. The majority opinion does not expressly hold that recognizing the Does' standing under section 601(b)(2) would violate Kirchner's due process rights, but instead concludes that the procedural safeguards afforded fathers by the Adoption Act militate that fathers be placed in the same legal position after the vacation of an invalid adoption as they were in prior to the invalid adoption's approval. (164 Ill.2d at 489, 208 Ill.Dec. at 278, 649 N.E.2d at 334.) By this statement, the majority apparently and mistakenly assumes that there cannot be a custody hearing following a failed adoption, without a finding of the biological father's unfitness. Moreover, in this case Kirchner's legal position prior to the approval of the adoption was that of an unwed father who did not have custody. The child was a ward of the court in the temporary custody of the prospective adoptive parents. In its analysis of the Does' standing under section 601(b)(2) of the Marriage Act, the majority begins by asserting that this court's decision of June 16, 1994, is res judicata as to the finding of this court that Kirchner had exhibited sufficient interest in his child within the first 30 days of his life. The majority then states that res judicata precludes reconsideration of these conclusions in determining the outcome in the instant habeas corpus proceeding. (164 Ill.2d at 486, 208 Ill.Dec. at 276, 649 N.E.2d at 332.) Despite such pronouncement, the majority repeatedly returns to its central rationale for finding that the Does lack standing, i.e., that the Does engaged in deceit, subterfuge, and the filing of false pleadings under oath. It has never been suggested by anyone, in the trial court, including Kirchner or Daniella, that the Does conduct was fraudulent, conspiratorial, or perjurious. Because the Does and their attorney were never charged with, or found guilty of, such grave misconduct in connection with the termination of Kirchner's rights in the adoption proceedings, and there is no evidence of record to support these irresponsible accusations, the majority's harsh criticisms cannot be bootstrapped into findings of fact made binding by res judicata principles. Without any evidence in the record, the majority attributes illegal and criminal conduct to the Does in order to support its ultimate conclusion regarding standing: In simple terms, Richard is in the Does' home without color of right. (164 Ill.2d at 492, 208 Ill.Dec. at 279, 649 N.E.2d at 335.) The majority also holds that the Does do not have physical custody within the meaning of section 601(b)(2) of the Marriage Act, but retain bare possession of Richard. To explain the errors of law and logic contained in such conclusion an analysis of section 601(b)(2) and the cases that construe it is appropriate.
Various provisions of the Marriage Act permit interested parties to initiate or intervene in a child custody action, and to obtain a best-interests hearing, without the need to resort to habeas corpus procedure. (750 ILCS 5/601, 602 (West 1992).) However, like the cases decided under habeas corpus procedure, custody cases decided pursuant to section 601 of the Marriage Act require custody determinations to be based on the fundamental best-interests factors, which are codified in section 602. (See, e.g., Ill.Ann.Stat., ch. 40, par. 602, Historical & Practice Notes, at 17 (Smith-Hurd 1980); Cohn v. Scott (1907), 231 Ill. 556, 83 N.E. 191; Nye v. Nye (1952), 411 Ill. 408, 105 N.E.2d 300.) Section 603 of the Act involves temporary custody procedures and section 610 governs the modification of custody based on changed circumstances. 750 ILCS 5/603, 610 (West 1992). Section 601(b)(2) of the Marriage Act provides that a child custody proceeding is commenced    by a person other than a parent, by filing a petition for custody of the child in the county in which he is permanently resident or found, but only if he is not in the physical custody of one of his parents. (Emphasis added.) (750 ILCS 5/601(b)(2) (West 1992).) The plain language of section 601(b)(2) reveals that the Does satisfy the literal requirements of the statute. The phrase physical custody, as used in section 601(b)(2), has been defined as requiring a determination of who is providing for the care, custody, and welfare of the child prior to the institution of custody proceedings. ( In re Marriage of Nicholas (1988), 170 Ill.App.3d 171, 120 Ill.Dec. 698, 524 N.E.2d 728.) Physical custody requires living with the child for an extended period of time. [Citation.] ( In re Custody of Kulawiak (1993), 256 Ill.App.3d 956, 962, 194 Ill. Dec. 934, 628 N.E.2d 431.) Clearly, Richard has never been in Kirchner's physical custody. Thus, the existence of the Does' standing is premised on the child's day-to-day living in their care and Kirchner's lack of physical custody. Kirchner acknowledges that the Does appear to have standing under the plain terms of section 601(b)(2) because Richard is not in the physical custody of one of his biological parents. However, he argues that the case law requires, as a prerequisite to a nonparent's standing to maintain a custody suit, that the natural parent be shown to have voluntarily relinquished custody or control of the child. Because Kirchner never voluntarily relinquished such custody or control, he argues that the Does cannot establish their standing as a matter of law. The majority adopts Kirchner's argument on this point, and goes further, by reducing the Does' relationship with Richard to mere possession. Such a construction of section 601(b)(2) is insupportable by reasoned analysis. In fact, the majority's view of the Does' standing assumes that the issue of Richard's custody depends on the same issue that was the subject of the fitness hearing in which Kirchner's paternal rights were terminated. However, as the cases discussed in the prior section of this dissent establish, the focus of a custody proceeding, whether brought pursuant to habeas corpus or pursuant to sections 601 and 602 of the Marriage Act, is not whether the natural parents' rights have been legally terminated or voluntarily relinquished. Rather, the sole determination for the court to decide in custody matters is what is best for the child. The key inquiry in the cases which have discussed the specific standing requirement of section 601(b)(2) is whether the child is in the physical custody of one of the natural parents when the suit is filed by the party seeking custody. ( E.g., In re Custody of Peterson (1986), 112 Ill.2d 48, 96 Ill.Dec. 690, 491 N.E.2d 1150.) The question of whether a natural parent has physical custody of his or her child at the time the nonparent files for custody assumes that the natural parent had physical custody to begin with, or had been exercising care and control of the child, or at least enjoyed significant involvement in the minor's life. (See Peterson, 112 Ill.2d 48, 96 Ill.Dec. 690, 491 N.E.2d 1150; In re Custody of Menconi (1983), 117 Ill.App.3d 394, 73 Ill.Dec. 10, 453 N.E.2d 835.) In the case at bar, the majority does not and cannot conclude that Richard is, or ever has been, in the physical custody, control, or possession of Kirchner. Instead, Richard has at all times been in the lawful custody of the Does, and the fact that the adoption was invalidated does not alter that basic fact. When this court ruled that the Does' adoption of Richard had been improvidently granted, the Does' legal status as adoptive parents changed. However, their familial bonds with Richard did not change. Conversely, while the vacation of the adoption restored Kirchner's paternal right to develop a relationship with Richard, such ruling did not automatically vest in Kirchner the right to take immediate control and custody of Richard. In holding that the Does lack standing because Kirchner did not voluntarily relinquish Richard, the majority relies on cases which are inapposite to the case at bar, particularly In re Custody of Peterson (1986), 112 Ill.2d 48, 96 Ill.Dec. 690, 491 N.E.2d 1150. In Peterson, the maternal grandparents sought custody of their grandchild upon the death of the child's mother, who had been living in the grandparents' home with the child. The grandparents' petition for custody asserted that the child was not in the physical custody of the father, who was divorced from the mother at the time of her death. The Peterson court rejected an interpretation of the statutory phrase physical custody that would have equated it with mere possession, noting that the statute was not intended to confer standing on persons who may file for custody based on bare, temporary possession of a child. The Peterson court rejected the maternal grandparents' claim of standing, noting that the child was in the mother's custody, not the grandparents', at the time of the mother's death. Moreover, the child's father, who lived close by, had been regularly exercising his visitation rights during the mother's lifetime. The court noted that under such circumstances, it would not reasonably occur to the father that the maternal grandparents had physical custody of his child and were developing a position of standing, so that upon the death of his wife he could be deprived of his right to custody of his child. ( Peterson, 112 Ill.2d at 54, 96 Ill.Dec. 690, 491 N.E.2d 1150.) There had been no transfer of physical custody from the mother to the grandparents, and the fortuity of the mother's death was the sole reason the grandparents could assert that the child was not in the father's physical custody at the time they filed their petition for custody pursuant to section 601(b)(2) of the Marriage Act. Unlike the case at bar, Peterson involved the rights of a divorced parent who had maintained his relationship with his child during the life of the mother, and who could not be deemed to have lost physical custody of the child, within the intent of section 601(b)(2), upon the custodial parent's death. The instant case involves significantly different facts, and the Does' standing is based on the reality that they have been the sole and legal custodians of Richard since four days after his birth. The majority's holding that the Does lack standing because Kirchner did not voluntarily relinquish his paternal rights requires the majority to redefine the legislature's phrase physical custody and to distort the decisional law interpreting that phrase. Two decisions cited with approval in Peterson illuminate the proper application of the standing requirement of section 601(b)(2): In re Custody of Barokas (1982), 109 Ill.App.3d 536, 65 Ill.Dec. 181, 440 N.E.2d 1036, and In re Custody of Menconi (1983), 117 Ill.App.3d 394, 73 Ill.Dec. 10, 453 N.E.2d 835. In Barokas, the mother had placed her child in the temporary care of a family member, who later turned the child over to a third party who had often baby-sat the child as an overnight guest. This third party filed suit for custody on the basis that the child was not in the natural mother's physical custody at the time the suit for custody was initiated. The appellate court held that the mother had not intended to relinquish actual custody of the child within the meaning of the statute and therefore the third party lacked standing to maintain a custody action. In Menconi, the court held that grandparents who sought custody of their grandchild did have standing to file for custody, notwithstanding the natural father's objections. The mother of the child had died shortly after the baby's birth and the father asked his parents to care for the baby. The grandparents took over the child's care and the father visited only for short intervals. After 6½ years, the father forcibly removed his child from the home of his parents, and refused to return the child. The court in Menconi held that the grandparents had standing to seek custody, even though the natural father, at the time the grandparents filed their custody petition, had physical possession of the child. In In re Marriage of Carey (1989), 188 Ill.App.3d 1040, 136 Ill.Dec. 518, 544 N.E.2d 1293, a stepmother was held to have standing to petition for custody of her stepchild upon the death of the father, notwithstanding the rights of the natural mother. The court found that the stepmother and child had developed a mother-son relationship during the years they had lived with the father. The court noted that although the natural mother had exercised her visitation rights, she had not provided for the care, custody, and welfare of the child in such manner that when the father died the court was required to find that physical custody of the child was in the natural mother. See also Montgomery v. Roudez (1987), 156 Ill.App.3d 262, 108 Ill.Dec. 803, 509 N.E.2d 499 (nonparent had standing to counter-sue for custody, pursuant to section 601(b)(2) of Marriage Act, in habeas corpus proceedings brought by unwed, teenaged mother who had signed equivalent of irrevocable consent to adoption). The above cases indicate that the standing requirement of section 601(b)(2) has not been not used as an artificial barrier to prevent genuine claims of custody by persons who have cared for the child on a daily basis in the role of parents. Rather, the statute prevents temporary caretakers, or persons living with the child's custodial parent, from asserting custodial rights in children who have been left in their care for limited periods of time. Therefore, the majority's expressed concern that a headmaster of a boarding school or the director of a children's summer camp might wrest custody from the natural parents under the guise of section 601(b)(2) is totally unfounded. The majority's conclusion that the Does have even less authority to seek standing than headmasters and camp directors is patently absurd. 164 Ill.2d at 492, 208 Ill.Dec. at 279, 649 N.E.2d at 335. The standing requirement has been viewed as intended to protect both the custody rights of the natural parent and the environmental stability of the child, and therefore it has been observed that the determination of whether a nonparent's standing has been established depends on the particular facts involved. (See Kulawiak, 256 Ill.App.3d at 961, 194 Ill.Dec. 934, 628 N.E.2d 431 (there is [n]o single fact or litmus test which controls the finding of physical custody for purposes of standing); In re Marriage of Santa Cruz (1988), 172 Ill.App.3d 775, 783, 122 Ill. Dec. 759, 527 N.E.2d 131 (relevant facts include who has immediate physical possession of the child; how the person took over control; and the nature, manner, and duration of possession).) The Does acted in accordance with the law throughout these proceedings and they were not accused of or found guilty of fraud or collusion in the adoption court. [2] As to the nature, manner, and duration of their possession of Richard, clearly the Does have formed a strong familial relationship with him. The majority acknowledges that the numerous appellate cases that have construed the standing requirement of section 601(b)(2) have not always focused on voluntary relinquishment as the sole factor but concludes that an exhaustive review of such cases discloses that this custody provision has never been invoked to alter parental rights absent some measure of voluntarily relinquishment. (164 Ill.2d at 493, 208 Ill.Dec. at 280, 649 N.E.2d at 336.) Because custody hearings do not, and cannot, terminate all parental rights, the majority's reliance on the voluntary relinquishment concept is misplaced. Although this court previously overturned the circuit court's factual determination and thereby vacated the adoption, it should be remembered that Kirchner's legal status at the time Daniella gave up the baby for adoption was that of an undisclosed sexual partner of the birth mother. The Kirchners were not then married and therefore there was no legal presumption that he was the father. The transcript of the hearing to terminate his paternal rights contains Kirchner's admission that Daniella never told him the baby died and that he did not believe her uncle's statement to that effect. Testimony of the uncle corroborates that Kirchner did not believe the baby had died. Even if he was unable to ascertain the baby's whereabouts initially after its birth on March 16, 1991, he admitted that he knew of the adoption by no later than May 12, 1991, when Daniella moved back into his apartment. His attorney did not file any pleading or legal document regarding Kirchner's paternity when the attorney filed his appearance form on June 6, 1991. The court-appointed guardian ad litem told the court that Kirchner's testimony of having been deceived was not credible. The guardian ad litem also expressed the opinion, based on the evidence, that the real reason Kirchner was seeking to prevent the adoption was because Daniella wanted to get the child back. The trial court ruled that the evidence established that Kirchner did not take sufficient steps to establish the necessary interest in the infant during the statutory 30-day period following the child's birth. As a result, that court terminated Kirchner's rights pursuant to Illinois adoption law. Consent to the adoption was not required by law. Although this court's vacation of the adoption changed Kirchner's legal status, and restored his paternal rights, it does not follow, in law or logic, that he was thereby retroactively vested with physical custody of Richard to defeat the standing of the Does. As noted, the majority's failure to recognize the Does' standing is largely premised upon its inaccurate view of the legal effect of the failed adoption. In this court's prior opinion, we held only that Kirchner's legal right to prevent the adoption, through timely assertion of his rights as an unwed biological father, had been erroneously terminated. We did not hold, in our prior opinion, that custody of the child became legally vested in Kirchner, nunc pro tunc, as a result of the failed adoption. The effect of vacating a legally entered decree of adoption because a parent's rights were improperly terminated is entirely distinct from the issue of what hearing is necessary when the biological parent seeks to take over control and custody of a child who is living in his adoptive family's home at the time the court invalidates the adoption. To blunt the argument that the Does have standing in the eyes of the law the majority implies that the adoption was void ab initio because it was obtained through lies, deceit, and subterfuge imputed to the Does. Thus, the majority attempts to bootstrap its conclusions by this highly unfair and extremely inaccurate characterization of the prior adoption proceedings. By casting the Does and their attorney as lawbreakers, the majority attempts to strip the Does of their legal standing to maintain a best-interests custody determination.
The Does' standing to seek custody of Baby Richard is further recognized in the recent amendments to the Adoption Act (Pub.Act. 88-550, eff. July 3, 1994). This legislation was enacted while the Does' adoption case was pending before this court upon petition for rehearing. The amendments modify the Adoption Act to explicitly grant standing to nonbiological parents whose adoption request has been denied or vacated. In pertinent part, section 20 of the Adoption Act was amended to read as follows (the new language is shown in italics): Proceedings under this Act shall receive priority over other civil cases in being set for hearing. No matters not germane to the distinctive purpose of a proceeding under this Act shall be introduced by joinder, counterclaim or otherwise. An appeal from a judgment order for adoption or other appealable orders under this Act shall be prosecuted and heard on an expedited basis, unless good cause for doing otherwise is shown. In the event a judgment order for adoption is vacated or a petition for adoption is denied, the court shall promptly conduct a hearing as to the temporary and permanent custody of the minor child who is the subject of the proceedings pursuant to Part VI of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. The parties to said proceedings shall be the petitioners to the adoption proceedings, the minor child, any biological parents whose parental rights have not been terminated, and other parties who have been granted leave to intervene in the proceedings. This Act shall be liberally construed, and the rule that statutes in derogation of the common law must be strictly construed shall not apply to this Act.       This amendatory Act of 1994 applies to cases pending on and after its effective date. (Pub.Act 88-550, eff. July 3, 1994, adding 750 ILCS 50/20(b).) The referenced part VI of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act provides in pertinent part that a nonparent may seek custody of a child when the child is not in the custody of a parent. 750 ILCS 5/601 et seq. (West 1992). The amendments to the Adoption Act contain mandatory language reflecting the plain intent of the legislature, to provide for expedited custody hearings when adoption petitions are denied or adoption judgments are vacated. Necessary parties to such proceedings are the petitioners in the adoption proceeding and any biological parent whose rights have not been terminated. These unambiguous provisions grant the Does direct standing to participate in a hearing regarding Richard's custody. Therefore, unless the amendments do not apply or are held to be constitutionally infirm, Kirchner's challenge to the Does' standing in a custody hearing is wholly foreclosed. The majority rules that the amendments cannot be constitutionally applied retroactively to the instant case. The majority posits that the amendments do not apply because they took effect after this court had finally adjudicated the parties' rights in the adoption case, on June 16, 1994. The amendments became effective on July 3, 1994. Although the Does' avenues of appeal had not been exhausted until well after July 3, the majority holds that, because the petitions for rehearing and petitions for writ of certiorari in the adoption case were denied, the effective date of the final judgment was June 16, 1994, the date on which this court entered judgment in the prior appeal. This reasoning lacks merit and supporting authority. The appeal in the adoption case was not final, but was still pending, when the new enactments relating to custody hearing procedures following failed adoptions went into effect. With respect to when a case was finally decided, for purposes of applying new legislation, this court has held, Where the legislature changes the law pending an appeal, the case must be disposed of by the reviewing court under the law as it then exists, not as it was when the judgment was entered in the lower court. ( Bates v. Board of Education, Allendale Community Consolidated School District No. 17 (1990), 136 Ill.2d 260, 268-69, 144 Ill.Dec. 104, 555 N.E.2d 1.) The court in Bates also held: [A]n appeal is a continuation of the same case [citation] [and] it follows that until either the time to appeal has expired or, if an appeal is being pursued, until the court of review has rendered a decision, the judgment is not a final adjudication. Bates, 136 Ill.2d at 269, 144 Ill.Dec. 104, 555 N.E.2d 1. Based on the Bates holding, the case involving the Does' adoption order was still pending on July 3, 1994, when the amendments to the Adoption Act became effective. On that date, the Does' petition for rehearing was still pending, and the time in which to seek further review from the United States Supreme Court had not yet passed. Until rehearing was denied and the United States Supreme Court denied review by certiorari, the case was still pending in the courts and was not yet final for the purpose of applying the recent amendments to the Adoption Act. In addition, this court stayed its mandate in the instant case pending review by the United States Supreme Court. Unless and until the mandate issues, there is no final or enforceable judgment. The majority cites one case in support of its holding that the filing of a petition for rehearing does not alter the effective date of the judgment of a reviewing court if the petition is later denied. ( PSL Realty Co. v. Granite Investment Co. (1981), 86 Ill.2d 291, 305, 56 Ill.Dec. 368, 427 N.E.2d 563.) However, PSL Realty has no application to the instant case. That case did not consider or decide the issue presented here, which is simply whether legislation that is enacted while an action is pending before this court on petition for rehearing may be applied to the case that is pending. The proper view of the issue before this court is that expressed in Bates, which held that a suit is still pending, for the purpose of applying recently enacted legislation, so long as the time for requesting appellate review has not yet been exhausted. The rationale of Bates is also consistent with precedent of the United States Supreme Court, which has held that a court is to apply the law in effect at the time it renders its decision, unless doing so would result in manifest injustice or there is statutory direction or legislative history to the contrary. ( Bradley v. School Board of the City of Richmond (1974), 416 U.S. 696, 711, 94 S.Ct. 2006, 2016, 40 L.Ed.2d 476, 488; see also United States v. Schooner Peggy (1801), 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 103, 2 L.Ed. 49.) These principles apply whether the intervening change in the law derives from a constitutional amendment, a statutory amendment, or a judicial decision by a court of greater authority. ( Bradley, 416 U.S. at 715, 94 S.Ct. at 2018, 40 L.Ed.2d at 490.) A judgment is final, thus taking it beyond the effect of a change in the law, when the `availability of appeal' has been exhausted or has lapsed, and the time to petition for certiorari has passed. Bradley, 416 U.S. at 711 n. 14, 94 S.Ct. at 2016 n. 14, 40 L.Ed.2d at 488 n. 14, quoting Linkletter v. Walker (1965), 381 U.S. 618, 622 n. 5, 85 S.Ct. 1731, 1734 n. 5, 14 L.Ed.2d 601, 604 n. 5. In light of this precedent, the Does' appeal from the vacation of the adoption was still pending, and was not yet final when the amendments to the Adoption Act became effective. The majority does not refer to any of the above cases in its determination that the retroactive application of the Adoption Act amendments to the case at bar is constitutionally prohibited. Instead, the majority suggests that the application of the amendments would alter the vested rights of parties. (164 Ill.2d at 496, 208 Ill.Dec. at 281, 649 N.E.2d at 337.) Again, the majority views the vacatur of the adoption on June 16, 1994, as the vesting of rights in Kirchner, who had been improperly denied a most fundamental right, the right to the case, custody and control of his son. (164 Ill.2d at 496, 208 Ill.Dec. at 281, 649 N.E.2d at 337.) Kirchener's right to custody of Richard could not have vested when this court's decision was announced last summer, since that ruling did not pertain to, consider, or decide custody of Richard. The Illinois Attorney General filed a brief in this court, defending the constitutionality of the amendatory legislation. The Attorney General's argument is largely premised on the fact that the circuit court's application of the custody hearing procedures of the new amendments would not alter or reverse this court's opinion, which set aside the adoption. Instead, the amendments clarify the procedures that are to be followed after an adoption is vacated, which thereby obviates the need to rely on section 601(b)(2) or habeas corpus to commence a custody hearing. However, according to the majority, the attempt to distinguish the vacation of the adoption of Richard from what happens after the vacation of the adoption is meritless because the separation of powers analysis does not turn upon inconsequential distinctions. Earlier in this opinion, we noted that prior to the instant amendment, the vacation of an invalid adoption results in the automatic reversion of custody to any fit parent who has not otherwise consented to the relinquishment of his or her rights to the care, custody and control of the child. (Emphasis added.) 164 Ill.2d at 498, 208 Ill.Dec. at 282, 649 N.E.2d at 338. My research reveals no Illinois case, prior to the majority's instant opinion, which stands for the proposition that when an adoption is vacated, custody of a child automatically reverts to an unwed biological father who never had custody of the child in the first place. Indeed, all of the law I have reviewed is to the contrary. (See, e.g., Sullivan v. People ex rel. Heeney (1906), 224 Ill. 468, 477, 79 N.E. 695 (it does not follow    from the invalidity of the [adoption] decree, that the relator is entitled to the custody of the child).) Any automatic reversion of custody following the vacation of the adoption was not in Kirchner, who never had custody, but to the guardian ad litem, whose court-appointed role was to represent Richard, who was, and is, a ward of the court. It was not until the majority granted the instant writ that Kirchner's right to immediate custody of Richard can be said to have vested by any order of this court. Before that date there was in effect a valid order of the circuit court, which granted temporary custody to the Does, to maintain the status quo pending the best-interests hearing. A further consideration militates against the argument that application of the Adoption Act amendments would violate principles of separation of powers. It is well established that the legislature may not enact a statute that dictates the resolution of facts in a pending action, but may enact legislation that mandates which law the court is to apply to the facts in pending cases. ( Kujawinski v. Kujawinski (1978), 71 Ill.2d 563, 570, 17 Ill.Dec. 801, 376 N.E.2d 1382.) The amendments to the Adoption Act at issue here do not attempt to dictate any factual resolutions with respect to pending issues regarding whether the Does should retain custody of the child. Rather, the purpose of the amendments is to clarify applicable legal principles, so that parents who have been granted adoption, but are divested of this adoption right on appeal, nevertheless retain standing to seek custody of the child. Although Illinois case law recognized the right of these nonbiological parents to seek custody after an adoption has been set aside, and section 601 of the Marriage Act may be construed to apply to such nonbiological parents, the enactments are important because they explicitly recognize and accord to such parents the statutory right of necessary party status under the Adoption Act. Where, as here, an amendment is enacted soon after controversies have arisen regarding the statute [that was] amended, it is logical and reasonable to regard the amendment as a legislative interpretation of the original statute. [Citation.] ( People v. Badoud (1988), 122 Ill.2d 50, 56, 118 Ill.Dec. 407, 521 N.E.2d 884.) From this analysis it is apparent that the amendments to the Adoption Act, as applied to the instant cause, do no violence to principles of separation of powers. A strong presumption of constitutionality attaches to the General Assembly's laws, and the burden rests on the party who seeks to invalidate the statute. ( General Telephone Co. v. Johnson (1984), 103 Ill.2d 363, 83 Ill.Dec. 133, 469 N.E.2d 1067.) In the case at bar, Kirchner did not satisfy his burden, and the majority's efforts to aid him are unpersuasive.