Dodson v. Donaldson

I dissented in Henson v. Money, 1 Ark. App. 97, 613 S.W.2d 123, aff’d, 273 Ark. 203, 617 S.W.2d 367 (1981), and for similar reasons, I do so here. In my opinion, Henson was a deplorable decision, and the decision reached in the instant case is no better.

The threshhold issue is whether the appellant’s consent to adoption was required under Ark. Stat. Ann. § 56-207 (a) (2) (Supp. 1983). That statutory provision dispenses with the non-custodial parent’s consent if he or she fails significantly without justifiable cause for a one-year period to communicate with or to support his or her child as…