Custody Case Heats Up
Senior Staff Attorney
"The court of Vermont, which has jurisdiction over this matter, has granted visitation rights for Janet Jenkins, finding a continued relationship between Janet and her daughter to be in the child’s best interest."
Janet Jenkins and Lisa Miller were joined in a civil union in Vermont and later had a child. When the couple split up, Miller moved with their child to Virginia. She asked a Vermont court to dissolve the union and sort out custody of the child.
The Vermont court granted visitation to Jenkins. Miller filed a new lawsuit in Virginia, using the state's antigay marriage law to have her declared as the sole parent. The conflicting court orders led a Virginia court to rule in Jenkins's favor. Miller then took her case to the Virginia Supreme Court.
Lambda Legal, along with Arent Fox LLP and ACLU-VA, is defending Jenkins and her relationship with her daughter, using the federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act as the basis of the argument. The act makes it clear that court orders regarding custody and visitation issued in one state must be enforced in other states as well.
"I love and adore my daughter," said Jenkins, "and I am going to honor my commitment to be a parent….I hope very much that the Virginia Supreme Court will allow me to continue to do that."
History of Miller-Jenkins v. Miller-Jenkins
- July 2004 Lisa Miller files an action in circuit court in Virginia seeking to have herself declared the child's sole legal parent. Miller succeeds in the trial court.
- November 2004 Lambda Legal files appeal on behalf of Janet Jenkins seeking to ensure respect for a Vermont court order granting her regular visitation with her daughter.
- November 2006 Victory! Virginia Court of Appeals upholds Vermont court order.
- April 2008 Lambda Legal argues in Virginia Supreme Court that court orders regarding custody and visitation issued in one state must be enforced in other states as well.
