The Virginia Court of Appeals will hear arguments tomorrow morning in Alexandria in a child custody case involving lesbian parents from Virginia who entered into a civil union under Vermont law. Lawyers representing the ACLU of Virginia, Lambda Legal Defense Fund, and Equality Virginia will argue that the courts in Vermont, not Virginia, have jurisdiction in the case.
Case Background: Janet and Lisa Miller-Jenkins, lived in Virginia when they traveled to Vermont to enter into a civil union in July 2000. After returning to Virginia, they decided to have a child through artificial insemination. Lisa conceived and carried the couple’s daughter. In April 2002, the couple’s daughter was born Virginia.
Several months later, the family moved to Vermont. Lisa and Janet together raised their daughter as co-parents until they separated in the fall of 2003. Despite Janet’s objections, Lisa took the child and moved to Virginia. In November 2003, Lisa filed a petition for dissolution of the civil union in the Rutland Family Court in Vermont. In the petition, Lisa acknowledged that the child was born of the civil union, and asked the court to award custody to her and visitation for Janet. Lisa also asked the court to order Janet to pay child support.
In June 2004, the Vermont court issued a temporary custody order giving primary custody to Lisa and allowing visitation for Janet. Instead of following that order, Lisa filed a new action in Frederick County Circuit Court in Virginia. The Virginia court found that Lisa was the child’s sole parent and that Janet had no right to custody or visitation. The court cited Virginia’s “Marriage Affirmation Act,” which went into effect on July 1, 2004 and banned certain contracts between people of the same sex. In the meantime, the Vermont Court held Lisa in contempt for refusing to allow Janet visitation, and later held that Janet is a legal parent of the child.
Tomorrow’s Argument : Lawyers for Janet Miller-Jenkins will argue that the Frederick County Court in Virginia court did not have jurisdiction to make decisions concerning custody and parentage of the child, because Federal and state law provide that once a court takes jurisdiction of a child custody case, a court from another state may not interfere.
“This should be a straight forward case that recognizes the right of the Vermont courts, under thoroughly tested federal and state law, to decide the custody and visitation issues,” said ACLU of Virginia executive director Kent Willis. “We are hopeful that the judges on the Appeals Court will merely follow the law and not allow prejudice to affect their decision.”
Contacts: Kent Willis or Rebecca Glenberg, ACLU of Virginia (804) 644-8022
