In re A.W.K.

In my view, the court lacked jurisdiction of the adoption proceeding. I agree with the majority that the authority of the Superior Court over adoption cases derives from statute and not from the general equitable powers of the court. However, in my opinion, the jurisdictional requirements of the adoption statute were not met in this case. Since the petitioners in the adoption proceeding were not residents of, and did not reside in the District of Columbia for one year preceding the filing of the adoption petition, the only remaining basis for subject matter jurisdiction was if “the child to…