In re Adoption of Gregory

747 N.E.2d 120 (2001)

From our private database of 46,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

In re Adoption of Gregory

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
747 N.E.2d 120 (2001)

Facts

Gregory was born with significant medical and developmental issues that required daily special care. Gregory’s parents (defendants) also each had cognitive disabilities, mental-health issues, and a history of substance abuse. The Department of Social Services (department) (plaintiff) took custody of Gregory and began trying to help the parents learn how to care for Gregory. The department located a social worker and a group with experience teaching parenting skills to parents with cognitive disabilities and arranged for them to educate the parents. The department set up meetings between Gregory and his parents and often made changes to the meetings to accommodate the parents’ issues. The department also sent information about the meetings to the educators to help focus the parents’ training sessions more productively. However, Gregory’s parents did not attend many of the training or education sessions or any of Gregory’s medical appointments and repeatedly had difficulty focusing or parenting while at the meetings with Gregory. The department also offered to put Gregory’s parents in a supervised residence where they could help care for Gregory, but Gregory’s father was not interested. The DSS moved to terminate the parents’ parental rights and to allow Gregory to be adopted without the parents’ consent. In response to the motion, for the first time, Gregory’s father complained that the department had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to accommodate his disabilities. The trial court made detailed findings and granted the department’s motions. Gregory’s parents appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Ireland, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 832,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,500 briefs - keyed to 994 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership