A United Nations official has called on courts in South Carolina and Oklahoma to respect the human rights of a little girl who is a member of the Cherokee Nation and is the subject of a cross-state custody dispute. Veronica lived the first two years of her life with adopted parents in South Carolina and the next two years with her American Indian father, who argues he did not consent to the adoption. When the US Supreme Court heard the case, the justices ruled that several provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act did not apply to American Indian biological fathers who are not custodians. The UN official cited the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which sets out goals for the collective rights of indigenous peoples around the globe and which President Obama has agreed to follow.
Lawyer and Legal Journalist
