Franklin v. Julian

The history of the human race is, in part, the effect of prejudice upon motives and purposes. Nowhere is this more sharply illustrated than in the treatment of the illegitimate child. Over the centuries he has been the innocent object of prejudice transferred from the guilt of his conception. As a consequence of the sin of his parents, he was legally the child of no one. As his and his mother’s needs for care and maintenance became an increasing charge upon society, statutes were adopted to shift that burden to the natural father.

So it was that one of the first acts of the Third General…