Galison v. District of Columbia

402 A.2d 1263, 3 A.L.R. 4th 450, 1979 D.C. App. LEXIS 392
CourtDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 12, 1979
Docket12196, 12439
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 402 A.2d 1263 (Galison v. District of Columbia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District of Columbia Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Galison v. District of Columbia, 402 A.2d 1263, 3 A.L.R. 4th 450, 1979 D.C. App. LEXIS 392 (D.C. 1979).

Opinions

[1265]*1265NEBEKER, Associate Judge:

Appellant Galison was convicted, after trial to the court, of one count of arranging for the placement of a child under sixteen years of age without having been licensed as a “child-placing agency.”1 D.C.Code 1973, §§ 32-785, -788. Appellant Goldstein was convicted of three counts under the same code provisions. Each argued that Congress, in enacting the provisions of title 32, chapter 7B (hereinafter the Baby Broker Act, or Act), did not intend to reach the conduct proved in these cases. Galison also contended that the government failed to prove that he was not licensed at the time of the alleged activities. We are of the opinion that the activities performed by Ga-lison are within the reach of the Act and that his claim of insufficient evidence (proof of no license) is unpersuasive. On the other hand, we agree with appellant Goldstein that his conduct was not of the type intended to be prohibited by the Act, and therefore reverse his conviction. Although consolidated on appeal, the two cases are sufficiently distinct to warrant separate discussion.

I. Edward Galison

Appellant Galison is an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of New York. Prior to August 31,1976, his associate, Spie-gelman, was contacted in New York by a Florida attorney. The Florida attorney explained that he had been unable to arrange for an adoption in Florida of the expected child of a Florida resident. Upon locating a New York family that would agree to adopt the child, Spiegelman suggested to his Florida contact that the mother come to New York for the child’s delivery. The expectant mother, however, indicated that she would be willing to travel only as far as the District of Columbia. The Florida attorney and Spiegelman arranged for the woman and her mother (the grandmother), to stay in the District of Columbia beginning on August 31, 1976.

Upon arrival in the District, the woman had a change of heart and decided that she would keep the child. She so advised Gali-son, who thereupon came to the District of Columbia and persuaded her that adoption was “the right thing to do.” After he informed her that her medical and living expenses in the District would be paid for and that she would receive $2,000 in addition to her medical and living expenses, she executed documents by which she consented to the proposed adoption and authorized the hospital to release her yet-unborn child to appellant.

Later, in September, the expectant mother again desired to abandon the adoption plans and contacted Galison to inform him that she wanted to return to Florida. Gali-son explained that the prospective parents were waiting for the baby to be delivered and reminded her of the money that they had provided for her. Because of the money involved, the woman decided to remain in the District.

In October, one week before the baby was born, the grandmother telephoned Gali-son regarding a Washington newspaper article which stated that it was illegal to arrange an adoption without going through an agency. Galison assured the grandmother that his actions were legitimate. Galison then spoke with the woman and played on her sensitivities by telling her that the prospective parents had not contributed any of the money for her expenses, that he had taken the money from his own pocket and that she should consider all the money invested in her thus far. The woman relented.

[1266]*1266Subsequent to the October 19th birth of the baby, the mother once again decided that she wanted to keep the baby, but she was “afraid of the money I owed and the money that he had invested in me. I was afraid to back out. I didn’t know what to do.” The grandmother contacted a social worker, and, as a result, the police were advised of the circumstances of the proposed child placement. Galison, meanwhile, once again attempted to persuade the mother to continue with the planned placement by arguing that it was in everyone’s best interest and by reminding her that there was already $6,000 “invested” in her. The grandmother then obtained the release of the baby from the hospital, received approximately $2,200 from Galison, and gave the baby to Galison. Upon leaving the hospital with the baby, Galison was arrested.

We are asked to decide whether Congress intended the Baby Broker Act to prohibit Galison’s activities. We resolve the issue in the affirmative. The purpose of the District’s Baby Broker Act is expressed in D.C. Code 1973, § 32-781:

The purpose of this chapter is to secure for each child under sixteen years of age who is placed in a family home, other than his own or that of a relative within the third degree, such care and guidance as will serve the child’s welfare and the best interests of the District of Columbia; and to secure for him custody and care as near as possible to that which should have been given him by his parents.

To fulfill the purposes of the Act, /. e., to assure the care and guidance necessary for the welfare of the child and to protect the interests of the District, Congress required registration and licensing of individuals placing children. This requirement is evident in the specific provision of the Act with which appellant Galison is charged as having violated:

No person other than the parent, guardian, or relative within the third degree, and no firm, corporation, association, or agency, other than a licensed child-placing agency, may place or arrange or assist in placing or arranging for the placement of a child under sixteen years of age in a family home or for adoption. . . [D.C.Code 1973, § 32-785.]

The penalty for violation of § 32-785 is set forth in § 32-788.2

On its face, § 32-785 proscribes all placement activities regardless of where they occur and regardless of the relationship of the individuals involved to the District. As § 32-781 states, however, the act was intended to apply only to situations in which the District has an interest (including the interest in serving the child’s welfare). Therefore, some contact affecting a District of Columbia governmental interest, which is protected by the Act, must be shown before § 32-785 becomes applicable.

Indeed, all parties in this case agreed that a placement must bear some relationship to the District to be proscribed by the Baby Broker Act. The government’s position is that § 32-785 applies in all cases involving geographical contact with the District. Under this interpretation, this section would require the registration of any person, who is • not specifically excluded by the Act’s other sections,3 who carries on any child-placing activity within the geographical boundaries of the District.4 Viewing § 32-[1267]*1267785 with regard to the framework of the chapter as a whole, however, we hold that a minimal or coincidental geographical contact alone is insufficient and that a substantial additional nexus is required.

Three sections of the Baby Broker Act indicate that § 32-785 applies only to placements which have a substantial nexus with the District. Section 32-786{a) requires that every “relinquishment of parental rights shall be recorded and filed in a properly sealed file in the Family Division of the Superior Court for the District of Columbia .

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Related

Simmons v. United States
554 A.2d 1167 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1989)
Galison v. District of Columbia
402 A.2d 1263 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
402 A.2d 1263, 3 A.L.R. 4th 450, 1979 D.C. App. LEXIS 392, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/galison-v-district-of-columbia-dc-1979.