Rosero v. Blake

BRADY, Justice.

The questions presented for review are whether the North Carolina common-law rule that custody of an illegitimate child presumptively vests in the mother has been abrogated by statutory and case law and whether that presumption violates the federal and state Constitutions. We conclude that the common-law rule has been abrogated by statute, and accordingly, we reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals.

The parties to this action are the natural parents of Kayla Alexandria Rosero, bom 20 March 1996. Following brief sexual encounters between the parties in 1995, plaintiff,…