Family law overview and applications

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Compare and Contrast

In comparing the case of Dred Scott v. Sanford (60 U.S. 393 (1857)) and the case of Annette B. there are not many aspects that are related in these two cases. One thing that is comparable deals with having or not having rights. In the case of Dred Scott, he was a slave that wanted to bring action against his owners. However, it was determined that he in fact had no rights because he was not a citizen, he could not gain citizenship, and he was considered the property of his owner. This meant that Dred Scott could be treated anyway his owner wanted to without any recourse what so ever. In the case of Annette B, rights were in question and whether or not these rights could be taken from Annette's father Joseph. Her mother had relinquished her full rights to said child and shortly thereafter the Department of Social Services (DSS) filed to have the rights of Annette's father taken due to abandonment.

In contrast, Dred Scott deals with a slave that wants to have retribution for the abuse that he feels he received at the hands of his owner. This in fact turns out to be a mute point due to Dred Scott being viewed as property. The case also deals with Dred's inability to gain citizenship, which in turn makes him unable to bring any legal action in a court of law. The case of Dred Scott v. Sanford also took place more than a decade before the case of Annette B. In the Case of Annette B, there was a situation where her mother relinquished all rights to her and the father lost his right due to a court decision of abandonment, because the parent had not attempted to make any contact with his child. This case was not one of ownership i.e. property but one of paternity i.e. parental rights. Though there is no indication that Joseph wanted or would seek custody of the child, there was sufficient evidence that indicated that he had not tried to contact her even when he was notified that his rights were in jeopardy. Therefore, the main point of contrast is that one case deals with parental rights and the other deals with having general rights i.e. citizenship.

Question and Answer

In my opinion, the results of the Annette B. case would not have been different regardless of if the foster parents did or did not want to adopt Annette. As stated DSS did want to make sure that the child had the ability to be adopted, motives in fact are not completely clear. However, it seems to be through a hope that when the situation of adoption would come up there would be no altercations for a child that had a mother that relinquished her rights and a father that she hardly even knew and had not communicated with in a number of years. The fact that her foster parents did want to adopt her could have played a significant part. However, there is no evidence stated to support that assumption Regardless the option of adoption needed to be available for the child so that should could have that opportunity if one should present itself.