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Matt and Melanie Capobianco, of Charleston, S.C. have been trying to adopt a 4-year-old Cherokee girl named Veronica since her birth. It wasn’t until Monday night after the Oklahoma Supreme Court said it didn't have jurisdiction over the child that they finally got her. Until the Monday night transfer, the Cherokee Nation had insisted the girl would remain with the tribe. The Capobiancos and the girl's biological father, Dusten Brown, had fought for years over custody of the girl. The dispute has raised questions about jurisdictions, tribal sovereignty and a federal law meant to help keep Native American tribes together. Veronica's birth mother was pregnant when she put the girl up for adoption, and the Capobiancos took custody of Veronica shortly after birth. Veronica, whose biological father is a member of the Cherokee Nation and whose biological mother in not Native American, had lived with the Capobiancos until she was 27 months old, when Brown was awarded custody under the Indian Child Welfare Act. Brown and his family claim the Indian Child Welfare Act mandates that the child be raised within the Cherokee Nation. The law was passed in 1978 with the intent of reducing the high rates of Native American children being adopted by non-Native American families. The U.S. Supreme Court this year said the law did not apply because he had been absent from the child's life.
In Other News • Several gunmen -- including snipers -- are still inside Kenya's Westgate mall, where more than 60 people have been killed since Saturday. • A 56-year-old man was found dead Monday in western Tennessee after a skydiving incident went horribly wrong. The man's body was found in a wooded area about a mile from the drop zone. It was not immediately clear what happened. • Apple announced it sold 9 million of the new iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C models since they went on sale Friday -- a record opening weekend for the iPhone. • Arizona Cardinals safety Rashad Johnson suffered a bizarre and gruesome injury in the midst of the team’s blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints. Apparently the 27-year-old lost the top of his left middle finger and did not realize it until after he removed his glove. The injury took place during a punt return in the second quarter as he attempted to make a tackle. There is a possibility that Johnson smashed it into the turf, but it’s currently uncertain if that is what actually caused the top of the finger to be removed. Johnson initially stayed in the game despite suffering the injury. • Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort will no longer allow visitors with disabilities instant access to rides, starting next month, in an attempt to reduce abuse of the policy. Under the current policy, Disney visitors can get a guest assistance card that grants quicker access to rides, often entering through exit doors to bypass the main lines. There were widespread reports of able-bodied people abusing the policy (things such as hiring disabled people to pretend to be family members so they could skip lines).
