The state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday on a private adoption case in Essex County that will create a legal precedent across the state.
A Supreme Court decision was released Tuesday. (File photo)NEWARK -- A state Supreme Court decision Tuesday will help decide the fate of New Jersey children caught in custody battles between their birth parents and prospective adoptive families.
In a written decision released Tuesday, the court ruled that indigent birth parents fighting for their children in contested private adoption proceedings must be told by a judge that they have the right to appointed counsel if they cannot afford to hire a lawyer.
The decision marks a leveling of the two most common types of adoption cases in the state in which a birth mother faces the termination of her parental rights. In cases in which the state Department of Children and Family Services files to terminate a birth parent's rights, judges have been legally obligated to tell poor parents who could not afford legal representation that they are entitled to appointed counsel. Now, the same rule applies to contested cases filed by private people hoping to adopt the birth parents' children.
The decision comes about five years after an Essex County birth mother, identified in the court decision as "L.A.," placed her then-two-and-a-half year old daughter with the Children's Home Society, a state-licensed adoption agency, with the intention of putting her up for adoption, the decision states. But, two months later, she changed her mind, it says.
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The child was placed into foster care, and in April of 2012, with a couple identified as "J.E.V." and "D.G.V.," who eventually sought to adopt the girl, it says.
In the adoption proceeding, the decision says, L.A. was not explicitly told in court that an attorney would be appointed for her, so she represented herself. In the 2014 hearing, the court terminated L.A's parental rights, the document states.
L.A. appealed the decision, and was given a state-appointed attorney in appellate court. That court reversed the trial court's decision, on the grounds that L.A. was entitled to an attorney, and was never told that. The Supreme Court decision upholds that ruling.
"Parents who are poor and typically have no legal training are ill-equipped to defend themselves in court," the decision reads.
"Because of the nature of the right involved -- the invaluable right to raise a child -- and the risk of an erroneous outcome without the help of an attorney, we hold that indigent parents are entitled to appointed counsel in a contested private adoption matter under the due process guarantee of the State Constitution."
According to the attorneys who represented both sides in the Supreme Court hearing, the child is still living with the foster parents. Their adoption case will be re-tried in Essex County, they said.
"It's not about the (foster parents)," said Sean Marotta, one of L.A.'s attorneys.
"They are lovely people who love this girl very much...this is a broader legal issue that they unfortunately got caught up in."
Still, Marotta said, the decision ensures birth parents facing private adoptions the same rights as those whose parental rights are being pursued by the state. Many other states have similar laws or court decisions on the books, he said.
The attorneys said they were unsure how many adoption cases this decision would impact each year, but it would apply to cases in which the child was placed with an adoption agency, or in foster care, without the birth parent surrendering parental rights.
Though Matt Nunn, the attorney who represented J.E.V. and D.G.V., said he understood the constitutional reasoning behind the decision, he said the legal back-and-forth has left a child in the middle.
The foster parents "are upset with the decision," he said. "There is a little person at the center of this case whose future is now unknown."
Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.