A ruling stating that an illegal immigrant no longer had parental rights over a son who had been adopted by American couple Seth and Melinda Moser without her consent has been overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court, reports CNN.
Encarnacion Bail Romero, a Guatemalan national, was arrested in 2007 for using a stolen social security number to work in the U.S. She gave birth while in prison, and although her son was initially cared for by her brother and sister, her siblings soon sought the help of a clergy couple.
The clergy couple asked to adopt the child themselves, and after Bail Romero said no, they gave custody of the boy to the Mosers. A year later, the Mosers tried to adopt the child, and their petition for adoption was approved by a judge in October 2008. The judge said that because Bail Romero had not contacted the Mosers for a year, she had given up her parental rights.
Several different state courts have returned different rulings in the case. A July 2010 decision invalidated the adoption, and on appeal the judges of the state Supreme Court overturned the termination of Bail Romero's rights.
According to the Missouri Supreme Court's website, its judges are selected under a merit-based system by a non-partisan commission.
