SUPREME COURT OF
THE UNITED STATES
V. L. v. E. L., ET AL.
ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA
No. 15–648 Decided March 7, 2016
PER CURIAM.
A Georgia court entered a final
judgment of adoption making petitioner V. L. a legal parent of the children
that she and respondent E. L. had raised together from birth. V. L. and E. L.
later separated while living in Alabama. V. L. asked the Alabama courts to
enforce the Georgia judgment and grant her custody or visitation rights. The
Alabama Supreme Court ruled against her, holding that the Full Faith and Credit
Clause of the United States Constitution does not require the Alabama courts to
respect the Georgia judgment. That judgment of the Alabama Supreme Court is
now reversed by this summary disposition, [citing well-established
full-faith-and-credit jurisprudence.
V. L. and E. L. are two women who
were in a relation-ship from approximately 1995 until 2011. Through as- sisted
reproductive technology, E. L. gave birth to a child named S. L. in 2002 and to
twins named N. L. and H. L. in 2004. After the children were born, V. L. and E.
L. raised them together as joint parents. V. L. and E. L. eventually decided to give
legal status to the relationship between V. L. and the children by having V. L.
formally adopt them. The Georgia court
determined that V. L. had complied with the applicable requirements of Georgia
law, and entered a final decree of adoption allowing V. L. to adopt the
children and recognizing both V. L. and E. L. as their legal parents.
