R. Reese Fuller

Court side with two dads; La. to appeal

by R. Reese Fuller

Two men, Oren Adar and Mickey Ray Smith, adopted a Louisiana boy in New York, but they now live in San Diego. U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey ruled last week that the Louisiana Office of Vital Records must put both men's names on the child's amended birth certificate. But The Associated Press reports that the state intends to appeal the ruling; State Health Secretary Alan Levine says Louisiana is being forced to grant more legal recognition to the couple than the U.S. Constitution requires.