Wisconsin Adoption Court Cases

Wisconsin Court Case: Meracle v. Children's Service
On October 18, 1979, CSS placed Erin with the Meracles, and on November 12, 1980, the adoption was completed. On February 8, 1981, Nancy Meracle saw a segment of the television program 60 Minutes which dealt with Huntington's Disease. The show stated that a child of a Huntington's Disease victim has a fifty percent chance of developing the disease. It also stated that there was no reliable test for someone at risk to determine whether he or she had inherited the disease...


Wisconsin Court Case: Lewis v. Social Services
This is the fourth time this habeas corpus proceeding has come to this court. The controversy involves the termination of the parental rights of Jerry D. Rothstein, the putative father of John Thomas Lewis, born to Karen Lewis in July, 1968. When the parental rights of Karen Lewis were terminated in August of 1968 by the La Crosse county court, Jerry D. Rothstein brought proceedings in that court asserting his parental rights...


Wisconsin Court Case: In re M.A.M.
Nevertheless, on January 8, 1982, Attorney Gary Olstad appeared on behalf of M.W. and I.W. Attorney Olstad is a lawyer in the same office as Attorney Olson. The record supports the conclusion that neither Attorney Olson nor Attorney Olstad was aware of any duty to represent M.W. and I.W. at the first hearing on November 30, 1981. At the January 8, 1982, hearing, Attorney Olstad appeared without his clients. He stated that he believed it to be the initial hearing and asserted...


Wisconsin Court Case: In re Soergel
We begin by stating the facts. Dawn Soergel Raufman and Gary Soergel were divorced on October 1, 1984. Gary Soergel is the son of the Soergels. There was one child born of the marriage of Dawn Soergel Raufman and Gary Soergel. The child was born on February 15, 1981. In the divorce agreement, custody of this child was granted to Dawn Soergel Raufman...


Wisconsin Court Case: In re C.G.F.
The issue in this case is whether a trial court can award visitation rights to grandparents under sec. 880.155, Stats., notwithstanding the child's adoption by a stepparent. n1 The circuit court for Sauk county, Honorable James Evenson, judge, concluded that it was in the best interest of the minor child to have visitation with her paternal grandparents. The court included a provision, however, which stated that the order would have no force or effect in the event the child's stepfather adopted her...


Wisconsin Court Case: In re Angel M.
Amicus curiae brief was filed (in the supreme court) by Karen M. McGaffey, Beth S. Ginsberg and Bogle & Gates; Annette L. Hayes and Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe, all of Seattle, WA and Abby Abinanti and National Center for Lesbian Rights, San Francisco, CA and Leslie D. Shear, Madison for The National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc., Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, and Northwest Women's Law Center...


Wisconsin Court Case: Custody of H.S.H.
Sandra Lynne Holtzman appeals from an order of the circuit court for Dane county, George A.W. Northrup, circuit judge, dismissing her petition seeking custody of or visitation rights to H.S., the biological child of Elsbeth Knott. We granted the guardian ad litem's petition to bypass the court of appeals. Section (Rule) 809.60, Stats. 1991-92. We affirm that part of the order dismissing the petition for custody; we reverse that part of the order dismissing the petition for visitation rights and remand the case to the circuit court for proceedings consistent with this opinion...


Wisconsin Court Case: Custody of Jeffrey A.W.
Elgin and Carol W., the maternal grandparents of Jeffrey A.W., appeal from orders dismissing their petitions for custody, guardianship and visitation. The parental rights of Jeffrey's biological father and mother were terminated in an earlier proceeding, and his guardian ad litem and the Dane County Department of Human Services, in whose custody Jeffrey had been placed pursuant to an earlier...

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