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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Ind. Courts - "Paternity affidavits challenged: New rule discriminates against them, says suit by foreign nationals" [Updated]

Carrie Richie reports today in the Indianapolis Star about a suit brought in federal court by the Indiana ACLU against the State Department of Health "over the way it handles paternity affidavits -- documents unmarried parents can fill out to designate a child's legal father." Some quotes:

The department used to accept paternity affidavits even if they were missing one or both parents' Social Security numbers. But since July 1, it has required both parents' Social Security numbers to validate the forms.

The lawsuit claims the change makes it impossible for people who cannot get Social Security numbers to claim paternity and deprives their children, who are U.S. citizens by birth, of the benefits of having a legal father, such as the ability to claim child support.

The immigration status of the parents in the lawsuit doesn't allow them to get Social Security numbers, according to Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana, but he declined to elaborate. He said the health department's practices affect illegal immigrants and legal residents, such as people who are in the U.S. on certain kinds of visas.

[Updated] From an update to the Star story posted at 11:30 am:
A federal judge today ordered that the state must accept paternity affidavits, the documents unmarried parents file to establish paternity, even if they don't have both parents' Social Security numbers.

Judge Tanya Walton Pratt said that a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the way the State Department of Health handled the documents since July might succeed and ordered a preliminary injunction, which will force the state to change its practices while the lawsuit goes through the court system.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 27, 2011 09:11 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts