Virginia courts may not ignore the custody and visitation granted by Vermont to a former same-sex partnerLambda Legal announced that "the Virginia Court of Appeals
unanimously ruled that the Commonwealth of Virginia has no say in a custody
dispute that began in Vermont between Janet Jenkins and her former partner Lisa
Miller."
The two women had a daughter when they were in a
Civil Union in Vermont. After they broke up, the biological parent moved to
Virginia and tried to use the Virginia antigay marriage law to void the Vermont
court-ordered visitation for her former partner. The Virginia Court of Appeals
ruled that the Virginia courts do not have jurisdiction, because the federal
Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act takes precedence over state laws and, by
virtue of the PKPA, Virginia must grant full faith and credit to the custody and
visitation orders of the Vermont
court.
One of the arguments rejected by the Virginia Court of Appeals was that DOMA trumped the PKPA. The Court said, "Lisa cites no authority holding that either the plain wording of DOMA or its legislative history was intended to affect or partially repeal the PKPA." The full decision can be obtained here: Miller-Jenkins v. Miller-Jenkins Posted: Wednesday - November 29, 2006 at 01:59 AM |
Quick Links
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Total entries in this category: Published On: Jan 25, 2008 02:09 AM |