From The Boston (Mass.) Globe:
State Supreme Court says adoptee has no right to know parentsGod forbid that those damn Lutherans start asking questions. . .
September 22, 2005
PROVIDENCE, R.I. --The Rhode Island Supreme Court has rejected a Pennsylvania man's claim that his belief in Mormonism entitles him to have his adoption records opened.
Philip Sabatino, 34, of Erie, Pa., claimed in court records that according to his faith he "may be saved and exalted after death" if he meets certain requirements, including tracing his ancestry and fulfilling certain obligations to his blood relatives.
But the justices said confidentiality is important to the adoption process and the man did not show a need to know his parents' names.
The official court opinion did not say whether religious belief could be used as a justification in other cases. But the justices said in a footnote that they thought they could not open records for Mormons without doing it for others as well.
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