Case Summary

On August 16th, 1920, Marie Paulson Hislop petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of her children Herbert and Robert. She alleged that Herbert and Robert were being unlawfully deprived of their liberty by the Child Saving Institute and their secretary, A. A. McGraw. Marie explained that she initially relinquished custody and control of her children to the Child Saving Institute (January 1920) because she did not believe she could properly care for them, and that she was to have an operation which she did not believe she would recover from. Because of this, the Juvenile Court of Omaha granted custody of Herbert and Robert to the Child Saving Institute. At the time of the petition, Marie claimed that she had since recovered from the operation and was fully capable of properly caring for her children. She did not believe her children had been adopted out yet and revoked any previously signed papers of relinquishment and consent to adoption. On August 17th, the Judge granted her petition, and the writ was served both to A. A. McGraw personally and to the Child Saving Institute. While serving this writ, the Sheriff was supposed to take and bring before the court Herbert and Robert but he was unable to locate them. On August 18th, A. A. McGraw responded to the petition, asserting that the Child Saving Institute was acting within their legal rights and responsibilities. This return also revealed that the children had already been adopted out to a family outside of Douglas County, and that the Institute would not reveal the family’s identity or location. The writ was dismissed and fate of bound party is unknown.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

• Institutional

Petition subtype(s)

• Child custody

Sites of significance

• Child Saving Institute (Omaha, Nebraska)

Outcome

Writ denied

Fate of bound party

Unknown

Case Citation

Douglas County District Court, Omaha, NE, RG230: Douglas County Records, Subgroup 10: District Court, 1855-1972, Series: Criminal Appearance Docket Books, Vol. 22: ca. 1919 - 1920, p. 640; Douglas County District Court, Omaha, NE, RG230: Douglas County Records, Subgroup 10: District Court, 1855-1972, Series 7: Criminal Case Files, 1897-1920, Reel 93: Doc. 22-638 to 23-15, Aug. 13, 1920 - Oct. 2, 1920, No. 22-640

Source material(s)

Docket | Case File

Length of case file

Between 11 and 20 pages

Repository(s)

• Douglas County District Court (Omaha, Nebraska)

State

• Nebraska

Tag(s)

• Corporate respondent

People

• Paulson Hislop, Marie (petitioner)
• Paulson, Herbert (bound party)
• Paulson, Robert (bound party)
• Mossman, H. L. (petitioner attorney)
• Ibson , John L. (petitioner attorney)
• Troupe, A. C. (Troup) (judge)
• McGraw, A. A. (respondent)
• McGraw, A. A. (responding party)
• Dayton, Howard (respondent attorney)

• Additional parties

  Steere, Asel Jr. (deputy clerk)

  Smith, Robert (clerk)

  Clark, Michael L. (sheriff);