Adoptive parents win a victory in visitation dispute

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Associated Press

GREENUP, Ky. -- A couple who went to jail rather than allow visitation by their adoptive daughter's biological grandmother have won a victory in the case.

Greenup Circuit Judge Lewis D. Nicholls signed an order last week lifting his previous visitation order for 9-year-old Odessa Brown. David and Melanie Brown, who opted to serve a contempt-of-court sentence rather than allow the visits, said it has been an emotional battle.

''We were relieved because it's finally over,'' Melanie Brown said. ''I guess we're still in shock.''

Nicholls had ordered the Worthington couple to allow visits between Odessa and her grandmother, Shirley Kitts of Franklin Furnace, Ohio.

The couple argued Odessa did not respond well to the visits and no longer wanted to see her grandmother.

Nicholls signed an order Thursday confirming a report by the county's domestic-relations commissioner that recommended lifting the visitation order. The new order also lifts a recurring threat of jail time for the Browns. The Browns had been locked up in the Greenup County Detention Center during the visitation periods between Odessa and Kitts.

''They are so excited that Odessa doesn't have to visit and that the stress of having to go to jail is lifted,'' said the Browns' attorney, Tracy Frye.

Social workers removed the girl from her home several years ago and placed her in foster care with the Browns, who later adopted her. The girl's biological father is dead and her mother surrendered custody in the early 1990s.

The Browns tried to use a U.S. Supreme Court ruling issued in June 2000 to get Nicholls to rescind his visitation order. The Supreme Court, ruling on a Mount Vernon, Wash., case, said that parents have the right under the 14th Amendment to decide what is best for their children.

Kitts said Friday that she was upset with the order but plans to consult with her attorney before deciding whether to appeal.

''I do think what has been done is wrong. . . . She and I had a very strong relationship, no matter what they might tell you,'' Kitts said.

Nicholls also ordered that the Browns pay a portion of Kitts' legal fees and scheduled a hearing for Aug. 16 to determine the amount. The Browns will fight that, Melanie Brown said.

http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2001/07/02/ke070201s45043.htm