New York Judge Awards Custody of 10 Year Old Boy To THREE ADULTS
Public Advocate president Eugene Delgaudio "Public Advocate predicted this would happen in our newsletters, statements and our legal briefs over 100 times in recent years. So now it has happened and it will not stop with this perverse decision."
New York Law Journal reports:
Calling it the logical extension of the legalization of same-sex marriage and the...expansion of unmarried partners' custody rights in New York, a judge has granted "tri-custody" of a boy to a man and two women who have all helped raise the youngster.
Justice H. Patrick Leis III said in his March 8 determination that both biological parents of a child identified as "J.M." have shown their love and concern for the now-10-year-old-but so has the woman named "Dawn M." who brought the action seeking the unique "tri-custody" arrangement.
The biological mother of the child, "Audria," supported Dawn M.'s petition for a formal custody arrangement. Audria and Dawn M. were romantically involved at the time of the child's birth, and the biological father, "Michael M.," acceded when the child was born to having both Audria and Dawn M. serve as joint mothers to the child he fathered with Audria through natural means, Leis' ruling said.
Mike M. was also romantically involved with both women and was married to Dawn M. until a divorce action was commenced in 2011. The boy now lives with Dawn M. and Audria, while, prior to Leis' ruling, Audria and Michael M. had shared joint custody.
Leis ...said he can find nothing that prevents tri-custody in the Marriage Equality Act, which legalized same-sex marriage in New York, nor in the state Court of Appeals' ruling in Brooke S.B. v. Elizabeth A.C.C.
In Brooke S.B., the court expanded the definition of a "parent" for visitation and custody purposes to the nonmarried, ex-partner of a biological parent in a decision hailed by homosexual rights advocates.
"Tri-custody is the logical evolution of the Court of Appeals decision in Brooke S.B., and the passage of the Marriage Equality Act ...which permits same-sex couples to marry in New York," Leis wrote.