Jane v. Queen’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

11 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Initially, we find Queen should not be penalized for his actions, or lack thereof, prior to Tanner’s birth. Mother left their apartment when she was approximately 8-10 weeks pregnant, telling Queen she intended to have an abortion. She thereafter lied, telling him she had, in fact, had an abortion in Atlanta. She then made every attempt to conceal from Queen the fact that she had not had an abortion; effectively isolating herself from him and, through court orders, ensuring that Queen could have no contact with her until well after the baby’s birth. As we noted in Abernathy , “an unwed father’s ability to cultivate his opportunity interest in his child can be thwarted by the refusal of the mother to accept the father’s expressions of interest in and commitment to the child.... To mandate strict compliance with section - 20-7-1690(A)(5)(b) would make an unwed father’s right to withhold his consent to adoption dependent upon the whim of the unwed mother.” 313 S.C. at 32-33 , 437 S.E.2d at 29 . This is clearly such a case. Given Mother’s representations that she had obtained an abortion, coupled with her extraordinary efforts to conceal her pregnancy from Queen, we find the preponderance of the evidence amply demonstrates that Queen’s failure to support during the pregnancy was through no fault of his own and, accordingly, we decline to require literal compliance with the statute. Moreover, we find Queen’s actions subsequent to learning of Tanner’s birth demonstrate “sufficient ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Doe v. Roe

2. “It is undisputed that [father] attempted to provide monetary support to [mother] during her pregnancy, but his efforts were rejected by her. In addition, [father] endeavored to keep apprised of [mother’s] progress during the pregnancy, but she shielded herself from contact with him, even to the point of complaining to her superiors that [father] was harassing her by his numerous telephone calls. [Father] appeared at the hospital after learning that the child had been born and offered to pay medical expenses related to the birth, but was told there were no expenses because he and [mother] were in the Navy. Although [father] sought no legal advice regarding the means available for him to protect his parental interest in the child, his lack of action was engendered by [mother’s] assurance to him that she would not place the child for adoption. Further, [father] immediately manifested his willingness to assume sole custody of the child once he discovered that adoption proceedings had commenced.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Arscott v. Bacon

3. “(a) the father openly lived with the child or the child’s mother for a continuous period of six months immediately preceding the placement of the child for adoption, and the father openly held himself out to be the father of the child during the six months period; or (b) the father paid a fair and reasonable sum, based on the father’s financial ability, for the support of the child or for expenses incurred in connection -with the mother’s pregnan cy or with the birth of the child, including, but not limited to, medical, hospital, and nursing expenses.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Arscott v. Bacon