Appeals Court Throws Out Oklahoma Law On Same-Sex Adoptions

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Oklahoma's law banning state recognition of out-of-state adoptions by same-sex parents violates the U.S. Constitution, a federal appeals court has ruled. <br/><br/>The 10th U.S.

Saturday, August 4th 2007, 2:12 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Oklahoma's law banning state recognition of out-of-state adoptions by same-sex parents violates the U.S. Constitution, a federal appeals court has ruled.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a ruling by a federal judge in Oklahoma who found the law passed by the Oklahoma Legislature in 2004 is unconstitutional.

``We hold that final adoption orders by a state court of competent jurisdiction are judgments that must be given full faith and credit under the Constitution by every other state in the nation,'' the three-judge panel concluded in a 35-page decision.

``Because the Oklahoma statute at issue categorically rejects a class of out-of-state adoption decrees, it violates the Full Faith and Credit Clause'' of the U.S. Constitution, the judges wrote.

According to the U.S. Constitution, ``Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State.''

The Health Department, which issues birth certificates, had appealed District Judge Robin Cauthron's ruling. Three sets of same-sex parents had sued to strike down the law, arguing that it unconstitutionally singled out a specific group for discrimination.

Health Department attorney Thomas Cross said department officials had not seen Friday's decision and couldn't comment on it.

An attorney for the same-sex parents, Kenneth Upton of Dallas, said he's happy for the parents who sued and their children.

Upton, of the gay-rights group, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, said no other state has a similar law.

``This was the most extreme example of punishing children because you don't approve of their parents,'' he said.

``What the state was saying (to the children) is that they are not your parents. That is just wrong.''

Friday's decision directed the Health Department to issue a new birth certificate for ``E.D.,'' a child who was born in Oklahoma but adopted in California by a lesbian couple.

Attorney General Drew Edmondson, in a legal opinion to the department, said the Full Faith and Credit Clause required Oklahoma to recognize any validly issued out-of-state adoption decree.

A month later, legislators passed the 2004 law.