Robert Clinton

Robert Clinton, Foundation Professor of Law, and affiliated faculty member of the College of Law’s Indian Legal Program, was interviewed by Carmen Russell-Sluchansky on The Voice of Russia: American Edition, on Tuesday, April 17.

Russell-Sluchansky’s segment, Due Diligence, explored The U.S. Supreme Court case of Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, which asks whether a federal law can limit the adoptions of Native American children.

In the initial hearings in trial court and the South Carolina  Supreme Court, it was held that non-Native parents Matt and Melanie Capobianco could not adopt a Native American child without complying with the requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The adoptive couple in this case petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case, and the court agreed to hear the case on April 16.

After the initial rulings, the child was turned over to the biological father, Dusten Brown.

“The Indian tribes have a right to control who adopts their kids,” Clinton said in the interview. “In many ways, the ICWA was intended to bolster that right.”

According to Clinton, the biological father of the adopted child has been misrepresented in an effort to overturn the State Supreme Court’s decision.

To hear the interview, click here.