WHO: ADF Senior Legal Counsel Byron Babione and ADF Litigation Counsel Sara Tappen
WHAT: Available for media interviews after hearing in Cole v. Arkansas Department of Human Services
WHEN: Thursday, April 8, immediately following hearing, which begins at 1:30 p.m. CDT
WHERE: Circuit Court of Pulaski County, Second Division, 401 W. Markham St., Room 230, Little Rock
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel Byron Babione and ADF Litigation Counsel Sara Tappen will be available for media interviews Thursday following a hearing in the lawsuit Cole v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against Act 1. Passed by voters in November 2008, Act 1 gives children the opportunity to be placed in the best home environments and puts their need for stable homes ahead of the desire of unmarried, cohabiting couples seeking children through adoption or foster care. The hearing will determine if the judge can decide the case without the need for a trial.
“The need of children for the most stable home possible should not be sacrificed on the altar of the ACLU’s agenda and their attempt to undermine the democratic process,” said Babione, who last argued before the court in March of last year. “Arkansas voters cast their ballots to ensure that children wouldn’t be deprived of the best possible family environment and decisively approved Act 1. There is absolutely no basis for attempting to overturn their voice on this matter.”
Scientific research consistently establishes that a home with a married mother and father is the best possible living environment for children.
ADF attorneys represent the Family Council Action Committee, which the court allowed to intervene in the case to defend Act 1 along with the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office. The Family Council Action Committee successfully carried out the petition drive and campaign for Act 1, resulting in voter approval by a margin of 57 percent to 43 percent.
Act 1 reads, “A minor may not be adopted or placed in a foster home if the individual seeking to adopt or to serve as a foster parent is cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage which is valid under the constitution and laws of this state. The prohibition of this section applies equally to cohabiting opposite-sex and same-sex individuals.”
Arkansas Family Council Staff Attorney Martha Adcock, one of more than 1,600 attorneys in the ADF alliance, is serving as local counsel in the case.
- Pronunciations: Babione (Babby-own); Tappen (Tapp-in)
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family. ADF President Alan Sears is co-author with Craig Osten of the book The ACLU vs. America.