Okeke v. Commissioner of Public Health
Okeke v. Commissioner of Public Health
Opinion of the Court
Opinion
The plaintiff, Edward C. Okeke, appeals from the judgment of the trial court dismissing his appeal from the decision of the commissioner of public health (commissioner) denying his request to amend his son’s birth certificate. On appeal, the plaintiff contends
The following undisputed facts and procedural history are relevant to the plaintiffs appeal. On May 25, 2000, a male child was bom to the plaintiff and Tamara A. Shockley. The parties were not married at the time of the birth of the child and have never been married to each other. The parties executed an acknowledgement of paternity pursuant to General Statutes § 46b-172. Shockley affirmed the acknowledgement of paternity on May 26, 2000, and the plaintiff affirmed the acknowledgement on June 1, 2000. The name of the child on the paternity acknowledgement is stated as “Nnamdi Ikwunne Okeke.”
While in the hospital, at some time after the child’s birth, Shockley also completed a birth certificate worksheet. Initially, she entered the child’s name on the worksheet as “Nnamdi Ikwunne Okeke.” On May 30, 2000, however, Shockley called the hospital and requested that the child’s name on the birth certificate worksheet be changed to “Nnamdi Okeke Shockley.” In response, a hospital staff person changed the name on the acknowledgement of paternity form to “Nnamdi Okeke Shockley.” On June 5, 2000, Shockley again called the hospital and requested that her son’s name be changed on the birth certificate worksheet to “Nnamdi Ikwunne Shockley-Okeke.” In response, a hospital staff person changed the name on the birth certificate worksheet to “Nnamdi Ikwanne Shockley-Okeke.”
On April 13, 2007, the plaintiff filed with the department an “[application for [a]mendment of [m]y [s]on’s [b]irth [certificate.” Pursuant to § 19a-42 (d) (1), the plaintiff sought to amend the name on his son’s birth certificate by removing the mother’s name, Shockley, in accordance with the previously executed acknowl-edgement of paternity.
Thereafter, the plaintiff timely filed an administrative appeal with the Superior Court. The plaintiff did not take issue with any of the factual findings of the hearing officer but challenged the interpretation and application of § 19a-42 (d) (1), claiming that the commissioner must change the name on the birth certificate to the name indicated on the acknowledgement of paternity form.
Our standard of review is well established. “Ordinarily, [o]ur resolution of [administrative appeals] is guided by the limited scope of judicial review afforded by the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act; General Statutes § 4-166 et seq.; to the determinations made by an administrative agency. [W]e must decide, in view of all the evidence, whether the agency, in issuing its order, acted unreasonably, arbitrarily or illegally, or abused
“A reviewing court, however, is not required to defer to an improper application of the law. ... It is the function of the courts to expound and apply governing principles of law. . . . We previously have recognized that the construction and interpretation of a statute is a question of law for the courts, where the administrative decision is not entitled to special deference. . . . Questions of law [invoke] a broader standard of review than is ordinarily involved in deciding whether, in light of the evidence, the agency has acted unreasonably, arbitrarily, illegally or in abuse of its discretion. . . . Because this case forces us to examine a question of law, namely, the construction and interpretation of [statutes] as well as the standard to be applied, our review is de novo.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Groton Police Dept. v. Freedom of Information Commission, 104 Conn. App. 150, 156, 931 A.2d 989 (2007).
“The process of statutory interpretation involves the determination of the meaning of the statutory language as applied to the facts of the case, including the question of whether the language does so apply.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Renaissance Management Co. v. Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, 281 Conn. 227, 231, 915 A.2d 290 (2007). “When construing a statute, [o]ur fundamental objective is to ascertain and give effect to the apparent intent of the legislature. ... In
Accordingly, our interpretation of § 19a-42 (d) (1) begins with an examination of the relevant language of the statute. Section 19a-42 (d) (1) provides: “Upon receipt of (A) an acknowledgment of paternity executed in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of section 46b-172 by both parents of a child bom out of wedlock, or (B) a certified copy of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction establishing the paternity of a child bom out of wedlock, the commissioner shall include on or amend, as appropriate, such child’s birth certificate to show such paternity if paternity is not already shown on such birth certificate and to change the name of the child if so indicated on the acknowledgment of paternity form or within the certified court order as part of the paternity action.” (Emphasis added.)
The plaintiff contends that the phrase “to change the name of the child if so indicated on the acknowledgment of paternity form” essentially directs the commissioner to ensure that the name on the birth certificate corresponds to the name on the acknowledgement of paternity
Additionally, General Statutes § 7-36 (10) defines “ ‘[a]mendment’ ” to mean to “(A) change or enter new information on a certificate of birth, marriage, death or fetal death, more than one year after the date of the vital event recorded in such certificate, in order to accurately reflect the facts existing at the time of the recording of the event, (B) create a replacement certificate of birth for matters pertaining to parentage and gender change, or (C) change a certificate of birth, marriage, death or fetal death to reflect facts that have changed since the time the certificate was prepared, including, but not limited to, a legal name change or a modification to a cause of death . . . .” Here, because the plaintiff
On the basis of the foregoing, we conclude that the court properly determined that the commissioner properly denied the plaintiffs application to amend his son’s birth certificate.
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion ALVORD, J., concurred.
Shockley testified that the different spelling of the child’s middle name, “Ikwanne,” was a clerical error. The child’s correct middle name is not an issue in this appeal.
According to the plaintiff, he did not learn of the name on his son’s birth certificate until May, 2001, when Shockley filed an application with the Probate Court to change the child’s first name.
Section 19a-41-9 (a) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies provides in relevant part: “The local registrar of the town where a birth occurred or the Department shall amend a name on a birth certificate when the request for the amendment is accompanied by a certified copy of a court order granting the legal name change. . . .”
Section 19a-41-9 (b) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies provides in relevant part: “For up to 30 days following a registrant’s birth, a parent may request that the registrant’s name be changed to correct an obvious typographical or clerical error, by signing and presenting to the local registrar of the town in which the birth occurred, the Parent Notice
The plaintiff did not take issue, in his appeal to the trial court, with the commissioner’s determinations that he failed to comply with the requirements of § 19a-41-9 (a) and (b) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. I disagree with the majority that the trial court properly dismissed the appeal of the plaintiff, Edward C. Okeke, from the decision of the defendant, the commissioner of public health, denying the plaintiffs request to amend his son’s birth certificate. I therefore dissent.
I first briefly note the procedural background of this case. In April, 2007, the plaintiff applied to the defendant for an amendment to his son’s birth certificate pursuant to General Statutes § 19a-42 (d) (l).
The defendant held an administrative hearing on the petition. Shockley was given notice of the hearing, and she attended and testified. The defendant denied the petition, and the court dismissed the plaintiffs subsequent appeal from that denial. This appeal followed.
Because the majority does not refer to certain critical—in my view—undisputed facts of this case, I take the liberty of stating the facts as determined by the administrative record. I also note that neither party disputes these facts in any way. These undisputed facts are as follows.
The plaintiff, a native of Nigeria, and Shockley, a native of Delaware, who at the time of the birth of their child were both attorneys employed by the United Nations, conceived a child in the months prior to January, 2000. On January 17, 2000, before the child’s birth, the plaintiff and Shockley entered into an agreement that their son would be named “Nnamdi Ikwunne Okeke.” The child was bom on May 25, 2000. The plaintiff and Shockley were not married at the time of the child’s birth and have never married. Shockley filled
At the hospital, Shockley signed an acknowledgment of paternity form on May 26, 2000, and the plaintiff signed the same form on June 1, 2000. Both signatures were sworn to and notarized. See General Statutes § 46b-172 (a), which requires that such acknowledgments be “executed and sworn to” by both parties. In accordance with their agreement, the name of the child was stated on the form as Nnamdi Ikwunne Okeke. This acknowledgment was then filed with the department pursuant to § 46b-172 (a) (3).
During the week after Shockley left the hospital, she learned that the plaintiff planned to move in with
The hospital staff did not notify the plaintiff of these alterations. Furthermore, Shockley did not inform the plaintiff that she had the hospital staff change the last name of the child from that to which the parties had agreed and which had been recorded by both parents on the acknowledgment of paternity.
I begin with some general comments about the naming of a child that I do not believe are controversial. The naming of a child is a supreme act of parental right; indeed, it is one of the first parental acts that parents perform upon a child’s birth. And it is usually preceded by conversations and an agreement between the prospective parents about what that name should be. Moreover, where, as in the present case, both parents have so agreed, the naming is a joint parental act. Hence, the acknowledgment of paternity form that provides for the sworn, notarized signature of both parents. Thus, that supreme, joint parental act of naming their child should be honored by our statutes if at all possible.
I next turn to a brief summary of the facts of this case. Both parents agreed on the child’s name; the mother filled out the hospital’s birth certificate worksheet accordingly, and both parents, who are attorneys, signed and swore to the acknowledgment of paternity form giving the agreed upon name to the child, presumably read the detailed instructions on the form and had their signatures notarized. The plaintiffs acknowledgment specifically referred to “the child named above”;
The mother unilaterally decided to change that agreed upon—and recorded as such—name, and the hospital staff, without any authorization from the father or, as far as I can see, from the law, took it upon themselves to comply with her telephonic request to alter their records, namely, the birth certificate worksheet. And from that unauthorized, altered document the hospital generated a “certificate of live birth” that contains a last name that is the product, not of both parents, but of only one, that is contrary to the agreed upon last name memorialized on the jointly signed, sworn to and notarized acknowledgment of paternity, and that even has a misspelling of the child’s middle name that has never been in controversy.
With this factual background, I now turn to the language of the relevant statutes. There are three, all of which must be read together. Section 19a-42 (d) (1) provides in relevant part: “Upon receipt of ... an acknowledgment of paternity executed in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of 46b-172 by both parents of a child bom out of wedlock . . . the commissioner shall . . . amend, as appropriate, such child’s birth certificate to show such paternity if paternity is not already shown on such birth certificate . . . .” Section 46b-172 (a)
It is clear that the general purpose of this statutory scheme is the integrity and accuracy of birth records, so that they, in the language of § 7-36 (10), “accurately reflect the facts existing at the time of the recording of the event,” namely, in the present case, the time of the birth of the child. Another purpose of this scheme is to honor, where feasible, the concept that the naming of a child is one of the first, supreme acts of parentage.
Accordingly, the language of § 19a-42 (d) (1) must be construed so as to carry out those proposes. This necessarily means that the statute must also be construed to carry with it an implied provision that permits the defendant to amend his records when they are shown to be the result of a clerical or other error. Such an implied power fits comfortably within, and is fully consistent with, the defendant’s authority to amend a birth certificate “as appropriate.” Otherwise, simply because the documents submitted to the defendant,
Applying this understanding of the statutory scheme to the facts of the present case leads to the conclusion that the defendant had ample authority and was obligated to amend the child’s birth certificate so as to reflect the facts existing at the time of birth, namely, to reflect his given name of “Nnamdi Ikwunne Okeke.” That was the name sworn to by both his parents on the acknowledgment of paternity, as their first, supreme act of joint parentage. That was the name of the child whom the plaintiff acknowledged as his own son, and that was the name of the child whom Shockley affirmed to be her child with the plaintiff. The certificate of live birth, which did not reflect that name, was the result solely of unauthorized conduct by both Shockley and the hospital staff in altering the live birth worksheet. Furthermore, as provided in § 46b-172 (a) (1), both the plaintiff and Shockley were legally bound by the terms of that acknowledgment of paternity, to the same extent as if it had been a judgment of the Superior Court. Surely, such a judgment could not be unilaterally altered simply by a telephone call from one of the parties bound thereby. Under these peculiar and unique circumstances, I would deem the naming information on the certificate of live birth to be the result of a clerical or
The majority places great weight on the language of § 19-42 (d) (1) that “the commissioner shall . . . amend, as appropriate, such child’s birth certificate ... to change the name of the child if so indicated on the acknowledgment of paternity form . . . .” The majority argues that a change of name was not so indicated on the form because the parties did not check that box. I disagree with this approach.
First, on a general basis, this argument does not address what I believe to be a necessary implication of the statute, namely, to provide for the correction of clerical or other errors. Second, the form itself belies that weight. The space on the form on which the majority relies so heavily is titled: “Change child’s last name on birth certificate” followed by blocks for “Yes” and “No.” Right next to that space is a corresponding space, titled: “If yes, child’s last name as it will appear on new birth certificate.” Thus, these two blocks are designed for a situation in which the parents want to change the name of a child who already has a live birth certificate. That was not the present case. When the plaintiff and Shockley signed this acknowledgment form, no such certificate had been issued; indeed, one could not be issued until after this form was executed by them. Thus, the plaintiff should not be barred from his entitled relief by a space on a form that was not designed for the facts of the present case.
The majority’s reading of the statutory scheme rests on the assumption that the acknowledgment of paternity addresses only the issue of who is the father of the child, to the total exclusion of the name of the child. I disagree with this assumption. First, it ignores the societal background of the statute, namely, the great
I therefore dissent, and would reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand the case with direction to sustain the plaintiffs appeal.
General Statutes § 19a-42 (d) (1) provides in relevant part: “Upon receipt of ... an acknowledgment of paternity executed in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of section 46b-172 by both parents of a child bom out of wedlock . . . the commissioner shall include on or amend, as appropriate, such child’s birth certificate to show such paternity if paternity is not already shown on such birth certificate and to change the name of the child if so indicated on the acknowledgment of paternity form . . . .”
This “No” space was checked on Shockley’s form.
General Statutes § 46b-172 (a) (3) provides: “All written notices, waivers, affirmations and acknowledgments required under subdivision (1) of this subsection, and rescissions authorized under subdivision (2) of this subsection, shall be on forms prescribed by the Department of Public Health,
The copies of the form in the record do not contain the material on the back of the form.
See footnote 4 of this dissent.
Shockley testified at the administrative hearing that this misspelling of the child’s middle name was a clerical error by the hospital staff, and that she did not intend to alter the child’s middle name from “Ikwunne” to “Ikwanne.”
The record does not disclose why the hospital staff chose to comply with the first, but not the second, of these two telephonic requests of Shockley to alter their records.
Shockley testified at the administrative hearing that she telephoned the hospital “about three times” on May 30 to discuss changing her child’s name. This testimony may explain the handwritten notation indicating a name change three times.
In fact, the plaintiff did not learn of the alteration of the records and the fact that his son’s agreed upon name was not on the birth certificate until May, 2001, when he learned that Shockley had applied to the Probate Court for a further change of the child’s name. Litigation ensued, which went all the way to the Supreme Court, but that litigation did not resolve
Thus, the mistaken spelling of the child’s middle name as “Ikwanne” rather than “Ikwunne” is now perpetuated in the official records of his birth.
General Statutes § 46b-172 (a) (1) provides in relevant part that “a written acknowledgment of paternity executed and sworn to by the putative father of the child when accompanied by (A) an attested waiver of the right to a blood test, the right to a trial and the right to an attorney, and (B) a written affirmation of paternity executed and sworn to by the mother of the child shall have the same force and effect as a judgment of the Superior Court. It shall be considered a legal finding of paternity without requiring or permitting judicial ratification, and shall be binding on the person executing the same whether such person is an adult or a minor . . . .”
Reference
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