Stalder v. Stone

I am compelled to dissent. This is an adoption proceeding, not a custody determination. The majority opinion fails to mention the very important fact, admitted by both sides on oral argument, that the mother of the boy is now married to Vaughn. For the first time, this distraught woman is in a position, we can assume, to make a home for her boy and give him the care and nurture he deserves. If her rehabilitation is not effected or complete, that question may be adjudicated in a different type of proceeding. On the other hand, to forever deprive this mother of her son, is, it seems to me, a…