OKLAHOMA CITY — Rebekkah Newland and Jennifer Fleming will have their day in court.
Tuesday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that both Newland and Fleming have standing to seek child custody hearings in district court.
Newland and Fleming, along with a third plaintiff, Charlene Ramey, were each fighting district court rulings that denied them standing in child custody cases. All three women were non-biological mothers. Each woman had asked for a child custody hearing, but were denied by a district court.
Last year, ACLU Oklahoma intervened in the cases, asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to overturn the lower court’s ruling and to recognize each woman as a parent.
In November 2015, the state’s high court ruled in favor of Charlene Ramey, who sought a court hearing, hoping for access to her son.
That ruling helped pave the way for Ramey to see her child -- a child she hadn't seen in more than year.
Writing for the majority, state Supreme Court Justice Joseph Watt said Ramey was not a mere ‘third party’ like a nanny, friend or relative, as suggested by the district court.
“On the contrary, Ramey has been intimately involved in the conception, birth and parenting of their child, at the request and invitation of Sutton,” Watt wrote. “Ramey has stood in the most sacred role as parent to their child and always has been referred to as ‘mom’ by their child. The community, school, medical providers and extended family have all known Ramey as ‘the other parent’ all with the knowledge and mutual agreement of Sutton.”
However, at that time, the court took no action on the Newland and Fleming cases.
On Tuesday, the court said its ruling in the Ramey case also covered both Fleming and Newland.
“The court finds that our recent decision in Ramey v. Sutton disposes of the issues in this case,” Chief Justice John Reif wrote. “In Ramey we made clear our intent to recognize those unmarried same sex couples who prior to Bishop v. Smith and Obergfell v. Hodges entered into committed relationships, engaged in family planning with the intent to parent jointly and then shared in those responsibilities after the child was born.”
Brady Henderson, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, said he was pleased by the court’s action.
“The state Supreme Court has cleared the way for these women to have their day in court and to have access to their children,” he said. “We’re excited the issues have been resolved and we hope that both Rebekka (Newland) and Jennifer (Fleming) will soon be with their children.”