Prof. Bix Quoted on Minnesota Supreme Court Open Adoption Decision

Professor Brian Bix was quoted in an Minnesota Lawyer story relating to a Minnesota Supreme Court decision, C.O. v. John Doe (Oct. 2, 2008). The State Supreme Court decided that a trial court had been in error in terminating an open adoption agreement without an evidentiary hearing, when the grounds for the termination had been disputed factual assertions. Prof. Bix observed that the Court's decision was appropriately narrow, avoiding larger questions that had been raised by the parties relating to courts' general power to terminate agreements. Additionally, Prof. Bix observed, because the court prevented peremptory terminations of open agreements in cases of this sort, parents who would only give up their children under such agreements will be more likely to go forward with the adoption process.