LilMtnCbn
01-09-2005, 04:55 AM
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0501080183jan08,1,751
0119.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed
Judge explains custody decision
Birth mom in fight for boy has stable home, jurist says
By Lolly Bowean
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 8, 2005
The Florida judge presiding over a three-way battle for a 3-year-old boy gave
custody to the child's birth mother rather than his birth father because of the
Glenview woman's stable home environment, court records show.
Duval County Circuit Judge Waddell Wallace ordered that Amanda Hopkins care for
the boy until the court ultimately determines his fate.
The boy returned to Florida on Friday for his last visit with Dawn and Gene
Scott, the Atlantic Beach couple who raised him since birth. He will return to
Glenview Jan. 15 and will remain with his mother until the custody fight
between his birth parents and former guardians is settled, officials said.
A custody battle also is pending between the birth parents, said Elaine Lucas,
an attorney for Hopkins.
Wallace said he decided to make public his most recent court orders because so
much of the information already had been disclosed. He cited Hopkins' marriage
to a member of the U.S. military as part of the reason she should get custody.
The Scotts began the adoption process "knowing full well that the natural
father objected," the judge said, adding they had promised that if the adoption
failed, the child would be returned to Hopkins.
Wallace said it was important to return the child to his mother now because he
"remains young enough and resilient enough that a return at this time will
cause no lasting emotional scars."
Although the Scotts' attempt to adopt the boy was dismissed in March 2002, the
court allowed them to care for him. But from the boy's birth on May 5, 2001,
Hopkins has been involved in his life, Lucas said.
"People believed this was an adoption and the mother showed up and asked for
her son," she said. "That's not what happened. This was not an adoption case."
Wallace's decision to return the boy to Hopkins came on Dec. 16, and two weeks
later the boy went with her for the first transitional visit.
Though Lucas said she was pleased with the judge's decision to make public more
details of the case, Debbie Grabarkiewicz, a spokeswoman for the Scotts,
criticized the decision.
"If you are going to release a ruling that makes statements, you should open
the entire file," said Grabarkiewicz, also a director of case management for
Hear My Voice, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based child-protection group. "I'm appalled
that someone would make a ruling and not release all the facts."
While in Glenview, the boy played in the snow and took the first steps toward
settling into a new home, Lucas said.
The Scotts don't intend to give up their fight, Grabarkiewicz said. "The Scotts
are just stunned by this," she said. "But their job is to begin their last days
with him."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
0119.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed
Judge explains custody decision
Birth mom in fight for boy has stable home, jurist says
By Lolly Bowean
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 8, 2005
The Florida judge presiding over a three-way battle for a 3-year-old boy gave
custody to the child's birth mother rather than his birth father because of the
Glenview woman's stable home environment, court records show.
Duval County Circuit Judge Waddell Wallace ordered that Amanda Hopkins care for
the boy until the court ultimately determines his fate.
The boy returned to Florida on Friday for his last visit with Dawn and Gene
Scott, the Atlantic Beach couple who raised him since birth. He will return to
Glenview Jan. 15 and will remain with his mother until the custody fight
between his birth parents and former guardians is settled, officials said.
A custody battle also is pending between the birth parents, said Elaine Lucas,
an attorney for Hopkins.
Wallace said he decided to make public his most recent court orders because so
much of the information already had been disclosed. He cited Hopkins' marriage
to a member of the U.S. military as part of the reason she should get custody.
The Scotts began the adoption process "knowing full well that the natural
father objected," the judge said, adding they had promised that if the adoption
failed, the child would be returned to Hopkins.
Wallace said it was important to return the child to his mother now because he
"remains young enough and resilient enough that a return at this time will
cause no lasting emotional scars."
Although the Scotts' attempt to adopt the boy was dismissed in March 2002, the
court allowed them to care for him. But from the boy's birth on May 5, 2001,
Hopkins has been involved in his life, Lucas said.
"People believed this was an adoption and the mother showed up and asked for
her son," she said. "That's not what happened. This was not an adoption case."
Wallace's decision to return the boy to Hopkins came on Dec. 16, and two weeks
later the boy went with her for the first transitional visit.
Though Lucas said she was pleased with the judge's decision to make public more
details of the case, Debbie Grabarkiewicz, a spokeswoman for the Scotts,
criticized the decision.
"If you are going to release a ruling that makes statements, you should open
the entire file," said Grabarkiewicz, also a director of case management for
Hear My Voice, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based child-protection group. "I'm appalled
that someone would make a ruling and not release all the facts."
While in Glenview, the boy played in the snow and took the first steps toward
settling into a new home, Lucas said.
The Scotts don't intend to give up their fight, Grabarkiewicz said. "The Scotts
are just stunned by this," she said. "But their job is to begin their last days
with him."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
