After shocking ruling case was overturned…

Paul Townsend set to appeal on behalf of birth mother Gloria Roman

Paul H. Townsend, Esq., of the law firm of Townsend Tomaio & Newmark of Morristown NJ, has taken the case of Gloria Roman and Baby J.  We are determined to do everything we can in our power to secure her son’s return and shall be seeking redress with the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Adoption Appeals Lawyer Morris County NJ

The Appellate Court’s decision is a travesty of justice.  In failing to affirm the lower court’s ruling, the Appellate Division has focused not on whether Baby J should be with his natural mother, but on the feelings and emotions of the adoptive couple.  Choosing to ignore the substantial and credible evidence put forth in the lower court, the Appellate Court in its finding ignored the trial court’s ruling that specific safeguards were put in place to protect vulnerable individuals, like our client, from making life-altering decisions without adequate information at a time when they are under incredible strain.  This is precisely the result these regulations were created to prevent.

The bond between mother and child is the strongest bond there is in the world.  It should not be cast aside so easily by the Court, giving greater weight to the feelings and emotions of an adopting couple and minimizing the enormity of the consequences to this mother by calling the agency’s wrongdoing a “technicality.”   In its decision, the Appellate Division has placed unreasonable burdens on birth parents while allowing adoption agencies to ignore regulations designed to protect those parents and their children.  In doing so, this decision further stacks the deck against birth parents, who are more likely to have less resources and ability to defend against these strong arm tactics.

The mere fact that the judicial system was seven months in making a decision should not and must not be the reason that a mother loses her child.  This decision does not protect Baby J, but rips a child from his natural parent who, in a time of crisis, made an uninformed decision and desperately wants her son back. The procedures and the rules were put in place to avoid such a decision as this. A child should be with its natural mother. This decision should not be based upon race, income, or the time it takes for the judicial system to make a decision and the agency’s failure to properly advise and counsel our client is not a “technicality” that should cost her and Baby J their future.

Mr. Townsend is currently trying the remand of the seminal case of Bisbing v.Bisbing in which he successfully had the Supreme Court reverse the Appellate Division.