Lobbying 101
Lobbying 101 The first panel on the first day of the symposium explored the issues of openness from academic, legal, and legislative perspectives. Introduced by adoption attorney
Jane Gorman, the current legal situation and emerging trends were discussed by Professor Hollinger (academia), Judge Thomas (law), and our legislative commentator,
Steve Christian who, although not a legislator himself, works with state legislatures around the country. And we got a lesson I call Lobbying 101:
- Legislators don't deal with rights, they deal with balancing interests.
- Find a way to articulate the interests involved.
- Present evidence. If, for example, you want legislation to restrict access to birth and/or adoption records for adult adoptees, you might try presenting evidence of increased abortions, or a decrease in adoptions.
Mr. Christian pointed to several attempts at balancing interests regarding access to records today (Alabama, Missouri, Connecticut, New York and South Carolina) and noted that each state is addressing the issue in a different way, and by the end of his presentation, he had earned himself the honorary title of Senator... even though he only asked for Representative.
Winding downIn the final comments of the symposium,
Dean Jana Singer cautioned against repeating past mistakes, when one type of confidential adoption was considered the "perfect solution" for
all adoptions, by swinging to the other extreme and prescribing one type of open adoption as the new "perfect solution." She noted the need for lawyers and law students to learn more about the social and psychological issues surrounding adoption and reconsider the traditional adversarial role lawyers have played in the past as the definitions and practice of adoption change.
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