Elisara v. Faleafaga
Elisara v. Faleafaga
Opinion of the Court
Order Denying Motion for Reconsideration:
Petitioners move the court for reconsideration of its order denying their petition to terminate respondents’ parental rights in and to the child before the court. The court was not persuaded on the evidence that the respondents had left the child "neglected and dependent," as those terms are defined by A.S.C.A. §45.0103(19), and hence denied the petition.
On the other hand, the court pointed out that the evidence tended to show a situation of "voluntary relinquishment, ” which would give rise to an entirely separate proceeding, under A.S.C.A. § 45.0115(a)(5) and 45.0401(2), as distinct from the proceeding to terminate parental
The statutory termination process does not admit the procedural casualness advocated by petitioners. See In the Interest of Three Minor Children, 3 A.S.R.2d 4 (Trial Div. 1987). Second, even if we could properly treat petitioners' termination petition as respondents' petition for voluntary relinquishment, we would nonetheless be inclined to deny the motion for the reasons to which we alluded in our order denying the petition.
It is so ordered.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.