Baby Veronica Given to Adoptive Parents

Baby Veronica, the 4-year-old Native American girl at the center of a legal battle over Cherokee Nation rights, was returned to her adoptive parents Monday night. Veronica, whose biological father is a member of the Cherokee Nation, was adopted by a South Carolina couple, the Capobiancos, at birth and lived with them until she was 27 months old. Her biological father, Dusten Brown, an Iraq War veteran, was then awarded custody under the Indian Child Welfare Act, a federal law designed to stop adoptions of Native American children by white families. The Oklahoma Supreme Court invalidated the lower court’s decision and finalized Veronica’s adoption.