Opinion: Ohio juvenile courts can issue visitation rights

CINCINNATI (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that juvenile courts can issue temporary visitation rights to parents who have no blood relation to a child.

The 5-2 ruling Wednesday stems from a custody dispute between a former lesbian couple who were raising a daughter together before they split.

Julie Ann Smith was artificially inseminated in 2002 with partner Julie Rose Rowell by her side. When the Columbus couple split six years later, court records say that Smith denied Rowell access to the girl for years despite repeated court orders.

Wednesday’s ruling upholds a lower court’s ruling finding Smith in contempt for violating those orders.

The dissenting opinion says the case is moot since a trial court awarded shared custody to the couple, and that Smith appears to have complied since February.