CopyCited 25 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2000 Fla. App. LEXIS 11893, 2000 WL 1345513
...: [D]omestic partners under the [Act] ... do not ... enjoy the numerous additional rights reserved exclusively to partners in marriage. Some of the rights that are exclusive to the marriage relationship include: the right to jointly adopt (Fla.Stat. § 63.042(2)(a)); equal rights in property acquired during the marriage (Fla.Stat....
CopyCited 22 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 1996 WL 165019
...l court's reasoning would effectively circumvent the clear statutory framework of Chapter 39 which grants HRS sole authority to select adoptive parents for children committed to its custody. [10] Since any adult can file a petition for adoption, see § 63.042(2), Fla.Stat., the trial court's reasoning, if followed, would permit anyone to adopt a child in the custody of HRS and then give the trial court authority under section 63.072 to excuse HRS's consent....
CopyCited 17 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 1996 WL 63084
...5th DCA 1993), review dismissed,
623 So.2d 494 (Fla.1993). Despite the permanency of a termination order, a parent whose parental rights have been terminated is not precluded from establishing new rights to his or her child through independent adoption proceedings. Section
63.042(2)(b), Florida Statutes (Supp....
...in this ongoing adoption proceeding. Dissenting op. at 17. However, Rivera stands in the same position as anyone else who is a legal stranger to this child. While most individuals are eligible to adopt a child to whom they are a legal stranger, see section 63.042(2), Florida Statutes (1991), they have no right to intervene in someone else's adoption proceeding with that child....
CopyCited 17 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 1995 WL 242399
...Brake, Eileen M. Brake and William Sanchez, Coral Gables, and Thomas Horkan, Tallahassee, amicus curiae for Florida Catholic Conference. PER CURIAM. We have for review State v. Cox,
627 So.2d 1210 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993), which expressly declared valid section
63.042(3), Florida Statutes (1991), and expressly construed several provisions of the Florida Declaration of Rights....
...At the time Cox and his partner applied for pre-adoption parenting classes, they informed the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (HRS) that they were gay. HRS then denied them the opportunity to attend based on the homosexual exclusion contained in section 63.042(3) and informed them that any application could not be considered due to their sexuality....
...Later, the parties to the suit entered into a stipulation waiving an evidentiary hearing and allowing the case to proceed to resolution with the parties simply submitting briefs and their own packets of research materials to the trial court. On March 13, 1993, the trial court entered its summary judgment striking section 63.042(3) on its face and enjoining HRS from enforcing the statute....
...The district court reversed, holding that the trial court did not have a sufficient record to support a summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs on any issue. Further, the district court determined that HRS was entitled to a summary judgment on the issue of right to privacy, and that section 63.042(3), Florida Statutes (1991), was not unconstitutionally vague. The court also held that section 63.042(3) was not violative of due process protections afforded under the United States Constitution, amendment XIV, and article I, section 9 of the Florida Constitution. Finally, the court held that section 63.042(3) did not violate the equal protection guarantees provided in the United States Constitution, amendment XIV, and article I, section 2 of the Florida Constitution....
CopyCited 12 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 1993 WL 496042
...Liberties Union Foundation of Florida, Miami, and Doris A. Bunnell, Bradenton, for appellees. En Banc. ALTENBERND, Judge. The plaintiffs, Mr. Cox and Mr. Jackman, voluntarily disclosed to HRS that they are homosexual. Each has been denied the opportunity to apply to adopt a child because section 63.042(3), Florida Statutes (1991), prohibits adoptions by homosexuals....
...Jackman took the same steps on April 3, 1991. HRS became aware that the two men lived at the same address and sent them a letter in late April advising them that HRS would not accept an application for the adoption of a child from either man in light of section 63.042(3). [1] That statute, enacted in 1977, provides: "No person eligible to adopt under this statute may adopt if that person is a homosexual." See Ch. 77-140, Laws of Fla. After receiving the letter, the two men filed this action to declare section 63.042(3) unconstitutional on its face and as applied to them....
...ambiguity of the undefined statutory word, "homosexual." The trial court, relying heavily upon an unappealed circuit court opinion in Seebol v. Farie, 16 Fla. L. Weekly C52 (16th Cir.Ct. 1991), 17 Fam.L.Rep. (BNA) 1331 (Mar. 15, 1991), [2] held that section 63.042(3) is void for vagueness and that it violates homosexuals' rights of privacy and equal protection....
...s of fact. The trial court did not have a record to support a summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs on any issue. Accordingly, we must reverse this summary judgment. III. THE QUESTION OF VAGUENESS: HOMOSEXUAL ORIENTATION V. HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVITY Section 63.042(3) does not define "homosexual." Despite the fact that the *1214 statute has been in effect since 1977, there are no reported cases in which a litigant has ever alleged that the term "homosexual" in section 63.042(3) is unconstitutionally vague....
...1186,
71 L.Ed.2d 362 (1982); D'Alemberte v. Anderson,
349 So.2d 164 (Fla. 1977); State v. Wershow,
343 So.2d 605 (Fla. 1977); Florida Businessmen for Free Enter. v. City of Hollywood,
673 F.2d 1213 (11th Cir.1982). If possible, this court must construe section
63.042(3) in a manner that upholds the statute....
...Under these circumstances, the legislature is constitutionally permitted to reach its own conclusions on the validity of the distinction between homosexual orientation and activity without any mandate from this court. IV. THE RIGHT OF PRIVACY The trial court determined that section 63.042(3) violates the Florida constitutional right of privacy under article I, section 23....
...government; (2) to prohibit unwarranted governmental inquiry concerning private matters; and (3) to create a zone of autonomy protecting personal decisionmaking, especially concerning issues of health. See In re T.W.,
551 So.2d at 1192. On its face, section
63.042(3) does not implicate these concerns. Section
63.042(3) denies one group of natural persons the opportunity to adopt based upon their known sexual activities....
...homosexuality is a fundamental right. The plaintiffs have not clearly established a valid legal justification for this court to depart from the rule announced in Bowers. VI. EQUAL PROTECTION Adopting the analysis in Seebol, the trial court held that section 63.042(3) violates equal protection under either the strict scrutiny or the rational basis standard....
...No state "shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." U.S. Const. amend. XIV. These constitutional rights do not prohibit the legislature from distinguishing among categories of persons in statutes. They do, however, entitle the plaintiffs to a judicial review of section 63.042(3) to assure that the category established in that statute withstands the analysis created by the courts to implement the right to equal protection....
...16th Judicial Circuit in and for Monroe County, Florida. Case No. 90-923-CA-18. March 15, 1991. M. Ignatius Lester, Judge. Lynn G. Waxman, West Palm Beach, FL, for plaintiff. Morton Laitner, Miami, FL, for defendants. OPINION Plaintiff, EDWARD SEEBOL, challenges the unconstitutionality of § 63.042(3), Fla. Stat. (1990), which prohibits homosexuals from adopting. After review of the pleadings and law, the court finds that section 63.042(3) violates Plaintiff's right to privacy under the Florida Constitution, and his rights to equal protection and due process of law under the Florida and Federal Constitutions....
...4th DCA 1987); Bernstein v. Bernstein,
498 So.2d 1270, 1272 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986). "These paramount interests will be protected by the state and by the courts, ex mero motu, " Bernstein, id. The Florida adoption statute, approved by the legislature in 1977, §
63.042(3) holds, "No person eligible to adopt under this statute may adopt if that person is a homosexual." Since the enactment of the statute, unforeseen circumstances have occurred....
...Under the due process clause such advantage for the state is insufficient to justify refusing prospective adoptive parents, and children who *1229 may benefit from the adoption, the possibility of a permanent family relationship, id. Based upon the aforementioned conclusions, § 63.042(3), Fla....
CopyCited 10 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2006 WL 162748
...ction
741.212(1), Florida Statutes (2005), and defines the term "spouse" as applying to a "legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife." §
741.212(3), Fla. Stat. (2005). In addition, Florida law prohibits adoptions by homosexuals. §
63.042(3), Fla....
CopyCited 8 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 1999 WL 415215
...Wills was a case involving temporary visitation. I do not read that case as involving the creation of rights in the stepmother as a "psychological parent" apart from her rights as a party to a dissolution proceeding. The real problem in this area is section 63.042(3), Florida Statutes (1997), which prevents someone like appellant from creating that type of legal relationship with a child that would confer legal rights and obligations. Neither this court nor the supreme court has ruled on the constitutionality of section 63.042(3) under the privacy amendment or the equal protection clause....
CopyCited 7 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2001 WL 505254
...had filed waivers of right to counsel, affidavits of birthparents, and consents for adoption, all of which S.L.H.'s biological parents had signed, agreeing to relinquish custody of and all rights to S.L.H. As grounds for intervention and consolidation, Y.H. cited section 63.0425(1), Florida Statutes (1999), which provides: When a child who has lived with a grandparent for at least 6 months is placed for adoption, the agency or intermediary handling the adoption shall notify that grandparent of the impending adoption before the petition for adoption is filed....
...Rivera's parents might have, and just as Y.H. has in fact done here. Despite the permanency of a termination order, a parent whose parental rights have been terminated is not precluded from establishing new rights to his or her child through independent adoption proceedings. Section 63.042(2)(b), Florida Statutes (Supp....
...Justice Harding elaborated on this aspect of the case in his concurring opinion: [The biological father] stands in the same position as anyone else who is a legal stranger to this child. While most individuals are eligible to adopt a child to whom they are a legal stranger, see section 63.042(2), Florida Statutes (1991), they have no right to intervene in someone else's adoption proceeding with that child .......
...rence "provided by law." IV. Specifically on two grounds only, one state and one federal, does Y.H. contend that she has legal rights that the trial court erred in not letting her intervene to protect. First, she asserts a statutory preference under section 63.0425(1), Florida Statutes (1999), by virtue of her daughter's living with her for six months before her granddaughter's birth....
...There has been no contention that the child's rights, constitutional or otherwise, give Y.H. a right to intervention. A. Initially, Y.H. argues that, while her granddaughter S.L.H. was in her mother's womb, she "lived with [Y.H.] for at least 6 months," 63.0425(1), Fla....
...PADOVANO, J., CONCURS; POLSTON, J., DISSENTS WITH OPINION. POLSTON, J., dissenting. I agree that the trial court properly denied the appellant's motion to consolidate. I also agree that appellant ("GP/Mother") does not have a priority preference for adoption under section 63.0425(1), Florida Statutes (1999), because the purpose of the statute is to give a preference to grandparents who have established a relationship with the child after birth....
CopyCited 7 times | Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
...thern District of Florida
(January 28, 2004)
Before BIRCH, CARNES and HUG*, Circuit Judges.
BIRCH, Circuit Judge:
In this appeal, we decide the states’ rights issue of whether Florida Statute
§ 63.042(3), which prevents adoption by practicing homosexuals, is constitutional
as enacted by the Florida legislature and as subsequently enforced....
... I. BACKGROUND
A. The Challenged Florida Statute
Since 1977, Florida’s adoption law has contained a codified prohibition on
adoption by any “homosexual” person. 1977 Fla. Laws, ch. 77-140, § 1, Fla. Stat.
§ 63.042(3) (2002).1 For purposes of this statute, Florida courts have defined the
term “homosexual” as being “limited to applicants who are known to engage in
current, voluntary homosexual activity,” thus drawing “a distinction between
homosexual orientation and homosexual activity.” Fla....
...During the past twelve years, several
legislative bills have attempted to repeal the statute,2 and three separate legal
challenges to it have been filed in the Florida courts.3 To date, no attempt to
overturn the provision has succeeded. We now consider the most recent challenge
to the statute.
‘Fla. Stat. § 63.042(3) provides: “No person eligible to adopt under this statute may adopt if that
person is a homosexual.”
2 S.B....
...ing information, his application was rejected
pursuant to the homosexual adoption provision. Shortly thereafter, in early 1995,
William E. Adams, Jr., a professor of law who had participated in one of the
previous legal challenges to Fla. Stat. § 63.042(3), wrote to the American Civil
Liberties Union (“ACLU”) and informed it that Lofton and Croteau would make
“excellent test plaintiffs.” R3-108 at 3....
...CF District
Administrator for Dade and Monroe Counties. Their complaint alleged that the
statute violates appellants’ fundamental rights and the principles of equal
protection. Jointly, appellants asked the district court to declare Fla. Stat.
§ 63.042(3) unconstitutional and to enjoin its enforcement....
CopyCited 7 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal
rights to equal protection and privacy. B. Section
63.042(3) does not Support the Trial Court’s Ruling
CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1999 WL 743565
...inely the parent of the child and the child as genuinely the offspring of the adopter as can be accomplished in law." (emphasis supplied and footnotes omitted)). Florida does not, however, disqualify birth parents from adopting. [1] Among those whom section 63.042(2)(b), Florida Statutes (1997), names as persons who may adopt is an "unmarried adult, including the birth parent of the person to be adopted." The Legislature has determined that it might be in the best interests of a non-marital chil...
CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2001 WL 1008157
...In that case, the grandmother premised her right to intervene solely on two grounds: (1) her daughter had lived with her during the pregnancy such that the yet unborn child had lived with the grandmother for over six months, giving her statutory priority under section 63.0425(1), Florida Statutes (1999); and (2) her substantive due process right to parent by virtue of her daughter's minority at the time she gave birth....
...Based upon the foregoing, the petition is denied. GROSS and TAYLOR, JJ., concur. ON MOTION FOR REHEARING WARNER, J. Petitioner and amici move for rehearing, alleging that our opinion creates a new right for grandparents to intervene and adopt their minor grandchildren. They read section 63.0425(1), Florida Statutes (1999), as the exclusive circumstance under which grandparents may adopt....
...handling the adoption shall notify that grandparent of the impending adoption before the petition for adoption is filed. If the grandparent petitions the court to adopt the child, the court shall give first priority for adoption to that grandparent. § 63.0425(1), Fla....
...(1999). They argue that because the infant in this case had not lived with the grandparents for six months, the grandparents were precluded from adopting the child under any circumstances. We do not read the statutory provisions as being exclusive. Section 63.042, which covers who may adopt a child, provides that a husband and wife may jointly adopt. See § 63.042(2)(a), Fla. Stat. (1999). The statute disqualifies certain persons from adopting, but it does not disqualify relatives of the child, particularly grandparents. See § 63.042(3),(4), Fla....
CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2001 Fla. App. LEXIS 6636
child to whom they are a legal stranger, see section
63.042(2), Florida Statutes (1991), they have no right
CopyCited 4 times | Published | District Court, S.D. Florida | 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13425, 2001 WL 988038
...001. No reply has been filed and the time to do so has passed. The Court heard oral arguments on Defendants' Motion for Final Summary Judgment and Plaintiffs' responses thereto on July 20, 2001. The issue before this Court is whether Florida Statute § 63.042(3) [1] ("homosexual adoption provision") which prohibits adoptions by homosexuals [2] impermissibly infringes on the Plaintiffs' federal constitutional right to privacy, intimate association and family integrity and violates the Due Process Clause as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution....
...NOTES [1] In 1977, Florida became the first state to statutorily ban adoption by gay or lesbian adults by enacting the homosexual adoption provision. Currently, it is the only state with such a prohibition. The homosexual adoption provision provides in pertinent part: 63.042....
...ll aware of Lofton's sexuality. ( See Dep. of Steven Lofton, Ex. 1 to Defs.' Concise Statement at 151.) Furthermore, Defendants answered the Amended Complaint by stating that Lofton's application was denied "in the course of enforcing Fla. Stat. sec 63.042(3)." (Answer to Am....
CopyCited 3 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 14014, 61 A.L.R. 6th 621
...Under Florida law, a homosexual person is allowed to be a foster parent. F.G. has successfully served as a foster parent for the children since 2004. However, Florida law states, "No person eligible to adopt under this statute [the Florida Adoption Act] may adopt if that person is a homosexual." § 63.042(3), Fla....
...provides a safe, healthy, stable and nurturing home for the children meeting their physical, emotional, social and educational needs. The Family Center recommended against the application, though, because F.G. is a homosexual and is prohibited from adopting children under subsection 63.042(3), Florida Statutes....
...The Department denied the application on that basis. The Department acknowledged that it would have approved the application if it had not been for the statute. In 2007, F.G. filed a petition in the circuit court to adopt the children. F.G. asked the court to find subsection 63.042(3) unconstitutional because it violates his rights to equal protection, privacy, and due process....
...presented fact witnesses as well as expert witnesses who testified regarding homosexual and *83 heterosexual parenting capabilities. In opposition, the Department offered the testimony of two expert witnesses. The trial court rendered a 53-page judgment declaring subsection 63.042(3) unconstitutional and granting the petition for adoption....
...The trial court found, among other things, that the statute violates the equal protection rights of F.G. and the children that are guaranteed by Article I, Section 2 of the Florida Constitution. The Department has appealed. III. The Department contends that the trial court erred by finding subsection 63.042(3) unconstitutional....
...The classification must be "based on a real difference which is reasonably related to the subject and purpose of the regulation." State v. Leicht,
402 So.2d 1153, 1155 (Fla. 1981) (emphasis added). The question now before uswhether there is a rational basis for subsection
63.042(3)was previously presented to the Supreme Court of Florida with inconclusive results....
...*85 Florida law specifies that a person cannot be "prohibited from adopting solely because such person possesses a physical disability or handicap, unless it is determined by the court or adoption entity that such disability or handicap renders such person incapable of serving as an effective parent." § 63.042(4), Fla....
...sary for a child to thrive." Appendix ¶ 10. "No person shall be denied the opportunity to become an adoptive parent on the basis of race, color or national origin." Fla. Admin. Code R. 65C-16.005(1). A single adult is specifically allowed to adopt. § 63.042(2)(b), Fla....
...less discrimination, if they are placed in nonhomosexual households, preferably with a husband and wife as the parents. But that is not what the statute does. *86 As previously stated, the statute specifically allows adoption by an unmarried adult. § 63.042(2)(b). Single parent adoption has been allowed under the Florida Adoption Act, enacted in 1973, and predecessor statutes. § 63.042(2)(b), Fla....
...Because we affirm the declaration of unconstitutionality on the ground that there is an equal protection violation under the Florida Constitution, we need not reach the trial court's alternative holding. X. We affirm the judgment of adoption, which holds subsection 63.042(3), Florida Statutes, violates the equal protection provision found in article I, section 2, of the Florida Constitution....
...Those stipulated facts are reproduced verbatim here. STIPULATED FACTS Petitioner (F.G.), the Children through counsel and the Department agree as to the following undisputed facts: Eligibility to adopt in Florida 1. State adoption law expressly permits unmarried adults to adopt children. Fla. Stat. § 63.042(2)(b)....
...No person eligible to adopt shall be prohibited from adopting solely because such person possesses a physical handicap, unless it is determined that such disability or handicap renders such person incapable of serving as an effective parent. Fla. Stat. § 63.042(4)....
...CFCF's home study report stated that although the caregiver meets suitability requirements, he lives an alternative lifestyle, which by Florida Statutes, precludes him from becoming an adoptive parent. 50. January 2, 2007, DCF sent a letter to Petitioner informing him that his application *96 was denied based on Fla. Stat. § 63.042(3)....
...are providing a safe, healthy, stable and nurturing home for X.X.G. and N.R.G. and meeting their physical, emotional, social and educational needs. RFA Response 26. 53. X.X.G. and N.R.G. are bonded to Petitioner and B.O. RFA Response 27. 54. But for Section [63.042(3)], Fla....
...respected colleagues. Those differences pertain to (1) the record regarding the other persons in the adoptive parent's household and (2) the substantial changes in law and Department of Children and Families' policy after the Legislature enacted subsection 63.042(3) in 1977....
...All five were (and continue to be) living in a fishbowl as a result of the monitoring reports, the home study, and the extraordinary publicity surrounding the case. The Department Opposes the Statute; Legal Developments After 1977 The Department, while acknowledging a general obligation to follow Florida law (including § 63.042(3)), believes that the categorical ban against adoptions by homosexuals is not in the best interest of children and is contrary to current standards and best practices recommended by social services and child development professionals....
...the legislative will"). Similarly, in 2009 the Second District accorded full faith and credit to a Washington state judgment of adoption by a same-sex parent, rejecting a claim that the Washington adoption was contrary to Florida public policy under §
63.042(3). Embry v. Ryan,
11 So.3d 408 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009). The categorical ban was once again subordinated to post-1977 legal developmentsin that case, to developments outside Florida. Conclusion In striking the categorical ban of section
63.042(3) on equal protection grounds, we need not address the larger controversy regarding same-sex marriage....
...[18] That experience, and the absence of any documented or apparent harm over the past 33 years following passage of the categorical ban, may account for the Department's decisions (a) not to appeal the 2008 Monroe County circuit court decision finding § 63.042(3) unconstitutional, and (b) not to call any witnesses in another Miami-Dade case, In re: Adoption of M.J.H., in which the same result was reached (that appeal is also pending before this Court as Case No....
CopyCited 3 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 34 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 347, 2009 Fla. LEXIS 862, 2009 WL 1544281
...[6] Accordingly, *186 because we conclude that Liberty Counsel has not met the requirement for injunctive relief that there be a violation of a "clear legal right" to relief, we deny the petition. [7] At the outset, we explain that this case does not concern the merits of the underlying case, that is, whether section 63.042(3), Florida Statutes (2008), is constitutional....
...The meeting minutes simply state: The board voted to not disallow the Family Law Section filing an amicus brief with the Third District Court of Appeal in the case, In the Matter of the Adoption of John Doe and James Doe, supporting the ruling of the trial court judge in that case. The judge ruled F.S. § 63.042(3) unconstitutional and allowed homosexual foster parents to adopt two brothers they had raised for four years....
CopyCited 3 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2004 WL 1635858
...4th DCA 2003) (trial court lacks authority to order DCF to approve an adoption in the absence of DCF's consent because decision to grant consent to adoption is firmly reposed by statute in DCF), rev. granted,
870 So.2d 820 (Fla.2004). In Lofton, the Eleventh Circuit concluded section
63.042(3), Florida Statutes (2003), which prevents adoption by practicing homosexuals, is constitutional....
CopyCited 3 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
...Id. at 1094 (citing Morgareidge v. Howey,
75 Fla. 234,
78 So. 14 (1918), and Faircloth v. Mr. Boston Distiller Corp.,
245 So.2d 240 (Fla. 1970)). The interest claimed by the Does in their motion to intervene is (1) that they are qualified pursuant to section
63.042, as they are husband and wife; (2) that they have passed a home study performed by HRS; and (3) that Bonnie's half-sibling is their adopted child, Mary....
CopyCited 3 times | Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 3845
any adult can file a petition for adoption, see §
63.042(2), Fla.Stat., the trial court’s reasoning, if
CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 4633, 2009 WL 1311599
...Ryan advances the alternative argument that there is a distinction between recognition and enforcement of a judgment. Ms. Ryan argues that the trial court was not required to enforce the judgment because granting parental rights to a former same-sex partner contravenes section 63.042, Florida Statutes (2007), which prohibits adoption by a homosexual....
...ned as though the judgment were issued by a court of this state." In other words, Ms. Embry is entitled to the same rights and obligations that are granted to a person who became an adoptive parent by virtue of a Florida judgment of adoption. Unlike section
63.042, section
63.192 does not exclude homosexuals from its provisions....
CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 20502, 2011 WL 6437247
...rights to her child. We conclude that section
742.14, as interpreted and applied by the trial court and as interpreted by the dissent, is unconstitutional because it deprives Appellant of her constitutional rights to equal protection and privacy. B. Section
63.042(3) does not Support the Trial Court's Ruling that Section
742.14 Deprives Appellant of her Parental Rights Appellee argues that the Legislature disapproves of children being conceived in the manner utilized by her and Appellant and that this disapproval is evident in the provisions of section
63.042(3), Florida Statutes, which prohibits gay or lesbian couples from adopting children in Florida....
...find no prohibition to lesbian women utilizing that process to conceive a child. Moreover, we note that the Third District Court, in Florida Department of Children & Families v. X.X.G.,
45 So.3d 79, 92 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010), has recently held that "subsection
63.042(3), Florida Statutes, violates the equal protection provision found in article I, section 2, of the Florida Constitution." (Footnote omitted)....
...ealth & Rehabilitative Services v. Cox,
627 So.2d 1210, 1212 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993), approved in part and quashed in part,
656 So.2d 902 (Fla.1995) (holding that the record from the trial court was insufficient to determine a constitutional challenge to section
63.042(3), Florida Statutes); (6) that "to the extent that Chapters 742 and 382 are interpreted as creating or denying parental rights, such issue cannot be resolved, as a matter of law, from the record"; and (7) that "summary judgment should...
CopyCited 2 times | Published | District Court, S.D. Florida | 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5588, 2000 WL 519123
...44 Chavers, Department of Children and Families, Tallahassee, FL, for defendants. ORDER GRANTING IN PART DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS JAMES LAWRENCE KING, District Judge. I. INTRODUCTION Plaintiffs challenge the constitutionality of Florida Statute § 63.042(3) [1] barring a homosexual from adopting a child in Florida, invoking federal jurisdiction under 42 U.S.C....
...The Bradleys alleged that if both Bradleys predecease their daughter within the next 16 years, it is their "wish" that Plaintiffs Wayne Larue Smith and/or Daniel Skahen would adopt her. ( Id. at ¶ 29). Because Smith and Skahen are currently residents of Key West, Florida, however, the Bradleys allege that § 63.042(3) will bar that proposed adoption in violation of The Bradleys' constitutional right to choose the care for their child....
..., now eight, since his infancy. ( Id. at ¶¶ 7,8). At some time not specified in the Complaint, Lofton applied to adopt Doe, but his application was rejected *1345 by the Florida Department of Children and Families because he was disqualified under § 63.042(3), Florida Statutes....
...it the adoption. ( Id. at ¶¶ 17-18). And, although he does not allege that he has petitioned to adopt Roe, he alleges that he "would petition the Circuit Court for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit to adopt Roe" but is automatically disqualified under § 63.042(3) from doing so....
...Butterworth, Jr., Attorney General of the state of Florida is excused from further participation in this case by reason of the agreement of counsel concerning his dismissal, upon agreement that he would abide by all lawful orders of the Court herein. NOTES [1] F.S. § 63.042....
CopyCited 1 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2007 WL 2736542
...deny the petition. We agree. Even assuming that a trial court may deny a legally sufficient petition to adopt an adult on public policy grounds, no such grounds are present here. The public policy of Florida expressly permits the adoption of adults. § 63.042(1), Fla....
CopyCited 1 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2000 WL 1873014
...When Blackwell died and McKesson asserted his rights to inherit under the trust, Rickard, alleging the adoption had been concealed, brought this action in 1999 to void the adoption as a fraud on the court. She alleged that McKesson and Blackwell were a gay couple, that the adoption violated section 63.042(3), Florida Statutes (1993), which bars homosexuals from adopting, and that it was a subterfuge to deprive her of her inheritance....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1999 Fla. App. LEXIS 12179
birth parents from adopting.1 Among those whom section
63.042(2)(b), Florida Statutes (1997), names as persons
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida
found that the adoption was not authorized by section
63.042(2)(c), Florida Statutes (2012) (governing when
CopyPublished | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 1977 Fla. App. LEXIS 16291
she is not a person permitted to adopt under Section
63.042(2)(d), Florida Statutes (1975). This section
CopyPublished | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | 2004 WL 1627022
...36
BARKETT, Circuit Judge, Dissenting from the Denial of Rehearing En Banc:
Lofton v. Sec. of Dep’t of Children & Family Services,
358 F.3d 804 (11th
Cir. 2004), finds constitutional 1977 Fla. Laws, ch. 77-140, § 1, Fla. Stat. §
63.042(3) (2003), which provides that “[n]o person eligible to adopt under this
statute may adopt if that person is a homosexual.”1 Florida is the only state in the
union to have such a categorical statutory prohibition targeted solely agai...
...rs” as adoptive parents. The 1977
statute prohibiting homosexual adoption expresses no preference whatsoever for
51
married couples, expressly permitting an “unmarried adult” to adopt. Fla. Stat. §
63.042(1)(b) (2003)....
...Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States
(2003) at 100. This ranking includes the District of Columbia but not California, Colorado, Indiana,
and Louisiana, which did not report divorce statistics to the Census Bureau. As Florida Statute §
63.042(1)(b) makes explicit, the fact that two persons are married does not make them fit parents or
tell us how or even whether they will fulfill the responsibilities of caring for children....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1995 Fla. App. LEXIS 8486
is (1) that they are qualified pursuant to section
63.042, as they are husband and wife; (2) that they
