State / National
THE BATTALION
TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 1981
Page 7
tMCourt rejects family code suit
faril
^ I H m United Press International
■) ACI1 1| WASHINGTON — The Sup
Jpie Court Monday rejected a
'^quittanceiftbM 1608 ?.^ 0 the Texas , f
mge claimed the act discrimin-
mul commissioner stes against unwed fathers of ille-
ihod Johnson thesti'P t ' ,na,:e children,
k to the land onvT The justices let stand a ruling a
' had paid taxes for n 13115 daughter, born out of wed-
fa century, said hen Me could be adopted. However,
a support of the pr Justices William Brennan, Byron
tional amendment ' White and Thurgood Marshall
state to give up the tpd they would have heard the
aably would helpwr; case
ns. | While she was 14 and attending
Kh school, Cynthia Tuttle gave
. 1 ^ r Erth to a baby girl in March 1977
q )0 y ro ™ the ''-at a home for unwed mothers run
C dS 1 W i a , nte ,t°^B Catholic Charities of Gal-
(qin aie solutiontt» on .jj ous t on
u , Armstrong sail 1 Tuttle, who was not married,
KCided to give the baby, Tarra
aid those meeting c-jElizabeth, up for adoption. Catho-
s office Mondayger .lie Charities filed suit in Harris
he constitution wilhCounty under the state’s family
icnded to permittt code to terminate the parent-child
up its claim to theplationship in order to place the
i the attorney gem child for adoption,
search to determine® The father, James Oldag, who
ire can give up 4 .was 18 and a high school senior at
a vote of the peoplf the time the baby was conceived,
filed a cross-suit to legitimate the
child and obtain custody.
—BlAfter trial, the court ruled in
nr of placing the child up for
adoption. Oldag appealed on
grounds the state’s family law dep-
Bed him of the same rights
afforded the mother of an illegiti
mate child.
HA state civil appeals court re-
fiked his arguments and the
pxas Supreme Court affirmed.
noting the state law says a parent-
child relationship exists between a
“parent” and a child. A father
qualifies as a “parent” only when
his paternity has been estab
lished, the court said.
Once this is established, he has
“equal rights with the mother who
is identified as the child’s parent at
birth.”
The state’s top court noted
Texas’ objective in requiring the
biological father to establish his
status as a parent was to avoid
treating “a sperm donor, a rapist, a
‘hit and run’ lover, an adulterer
and the like in the same legal sta
tus as a father who had accepted
the legal and moral commitment
to his family.”
Oldag was given notice of the
proceedings necessary to place
the child for adoption, but a jury
found it was not in the child’s best
interest that Oldag have parental
rights, the Texas high court said.
Oldag “never lived with, raised
or established any kind of relation
ship with the child, having seen
her only the one time shortly after
her birth,” the court noted.
Thus a father who has not
“established a substantial family
relationship” with his child cannot
except the same treatment under
the law as a mother, the court said.
Oldag appealed the decision to
the Supreme Court, arguing the
law discriminated on the basis of
sex because it treated unwed
fathers differently than mothers
and married fathers.
Catholic Charities filed legal
papers opposing high court re
view, arguing that Oldag had been
given notice of all court hearings
in the case but did not file a proper
statment of paternity.
Both sides gave contrasting
views of Oldag’s fitness to be a
father. His papers said he was a
Boy Scout, a “hard worker and
saves his money and lives at home.
sharing in the responsibility of car
ing for his niece and nephew. ”
Catholic Charities said Oldag
was arrested on a rape charge, had
been picked up in a marijuana
bust and arrested for assault with a
knife.
Solar energy project
begins in Crosbyton
United Press International
CROSBYTON — Steam created by the sun’s rays Monday began
turning a turbine at the Crosbyton Solar Power Project, creating the
first commercial electricity produced by a solar steam generator.
The $6 million project of Texas Tech University and the U.S.
Department of Energy was to have been put into service at a ceremony
Friday, but a cloud cover and sandstorm shut out the sun, canceling
the demonstration part of the ceremony.
The system began producing electricity at 11:30 a.m. Monday as
sun from a clear sky fell on the huge solar collector.
The generator, which now produces enough electricity for about 15
homes in Crosbyton, is a prototype for what Texas Tech engineers and
DOE officials hope will be a large solar steam system for the town.
Congress is considering funding for the expanded project.
Senate votes to give
$36 million for jails
United Press International
AUSTIN — The Senate voted Monday to appropriate $35 million for
|ison construction and to permit the prison system to use $250,000 of
hat money for a work release program to begin immediately,
if The House has already approved the $35 million for new inmate
giusing but has not voted on the amendment, which Sen. Kent
]aperton, D-Bryan, said he introduced at the request of the Depart-
nent of Corrections.
As of Friday morning, Caperton said, 2,472 inmates of Texas prisons
vere sleeping on the floor.
I; “This will allow the TDC to immediately address the problem that
las become so vivid in everyone’s mind,” Caperton said. “Something
ms to be done because it is right, regardless of what a federal judge
Hs.”
'■ U. S. District Judge William Wayne Justice has ordered the Texas
psons to relieve overcrowding, understaffing and other problems in
he system.
Sen. Ed Howard, D-Texarkana, the only vote against the appropria-
gm, explained that he resents the interference of federal judges in
Texas spending decisions.
^ “In this case, they are spending $35 million of our money today,”
Howard said.
i He also criticized Gov. William P. Clements for vetoing an approp-
iation in 1979 for prison construction.
||;“This Legislature last session met its obligation,” Howard said.
I Sen. Carlos Truan, D-Corpus Christi, asked Caperton if he expects
the governor to veto the appropriation this year.
j|‘Tt is my understanding that it will not be vetoed,” Caperton said.
In fact, he has designated it an emergency.”
I “The taxpayers of this state are having to pay $5 million more than
the figures showed it would have cost two years ago,” Truan said.
| Truan also complained that the governor turns down too many
parole recommendations.
| The Board of Corrections has voted to spend the $35 million for
dormitory-style housing at three existing prison sites. Jester, Beto and
Coffield. Each site will house 960 prisoners.
| The Department of Corrections has requested $268.5 million for
new cell space in the coming two years. The emergency appropriation
would come out of that but would be available immediately.
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Scientist found guilty
of violating clone rules
United Press International
SAN DIEGO — Internationally recognized
scientist Ian Kennedy has been convicted of
violating national cloning guidelines and conduct
ing unauthorized experiments by an investigative
unit of the National Institute of Health.
Kennedy, a 38-year-old virologist at the Uni
versity of California, San Diego, cloned the gene
tic material of a rare virus not permitted to be
cloned under federal safety guidelines, the unit
found.
When word of the cloning incident leaked,
Kennedy’s research in the university’s recom
binant DNA laboratory generated a worldwide
controversy and triggered fears among some sci
entists of a public backlash against all “genetic
engineering” projects.
On Sunday, the National Institute of Health’s
Executive Recombinant DNA Committee re
leased its final report on the incident and ordered
sanctions that may end Kennedy’s research
career.
The investigators found Kennedy guilty of
cloning fragments of genetic material from semli-
ci forest virus instead of sindbis virus, which he
had received approval to work with.
Kennedy has steadfastly denied he deliberate
ly cloned the prohibited virus.
The controversial cloning experiment dealt
with Kennedy’s pursuit of the construction of an
anti-viral gene, initially against the sindbis virus.
Kennedy said he cloned the virus — which
turned out to be a semliki — because he needed
“a lot of the anti-viral genes to do the experi
ment.”
The institute investigators also found that Ken
nedy committed a second infraction in using the
viral genetic material generated by the cloning to
infect mouse cells, another unauthorized recom
binant DNA experiment.
Through a spokesman, Kennedy said he would
have no comment on the report. He resigned
from the UCSD faculty last year asserting that he
was not granted a fair hearing during an internal
campus investigation of the cloning.
The institute’s final report concluded that “the
seriousness of these infractions would be suffi
cient to warrant consideration of specific sanc
tions of remedial action if Dr. Kennedy still were
receiving NIH support.”
The committee recommended that if Kennedy
applied for National Institute of Health research
grants or support in the next two years, the re
viewers should be supplied with a copy of the
report on the cloning incident.
Fellow scientists concurred that being outside
the field for two years could end Kennedy’s re
search capabilities.
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