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In re T.T.

Case Date: 05/14/2001
Court: 1st District Appellate
Docket No: 1-99-0144 Rel

FIRST DIVISION
May 14, 2001





No. 1-99-0144

IN RE T.T., a Minor,

                    Respondent-Appellee

(The People of the State of Illinois,

                    Petitioner-Appellee,

         v.

T.T., Sr.,

                    Respondent-Appellant).

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)		 Appeal from the
Circuit Court of
Cook County







Honorable
Donna L. Cervini,
Judge Presiding.


PRESIDING JUSTICE McNULTY delivered the opinion of thecourt:

In this case we must decide whether an amendment to theAdoption Act (750 ILCS 50/0.01 et seq. (West 1998)) appliesretroactively. The amendment, effective June 30, 1998, providesthat if a parent has three felony convictions, including onewithin five years of the filing of a petition to terminateparental rights, a rebuttable presumption of parental unfitnessarises. 750 ILCS 50/1(D)(i) (West 1998). T.T., Sr., committedthree felonies before 1997. The trial court terminated hisparental rights over T.T. based on the three convictions. T.T.,Sr., now appeals.

The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) tooktemporary custody of T.T. in December 1994 and placed him in thehome of a relative. DCFS filed a petition for termination of therights of both parents, in April 1998, after years of workingwith T.T.'s mother. The trial court terminated the parentalrights of T.T.'s mother, and that ruling is not at issue in thisappeal.

DCFS moved for summary judgment against T.T., Sr., on onecount of the petition for termination of his parental rights. Insupport DCFS presented certified records showing that in 1992T.T., Sr., committed burglary, and twice in 1996 he possessedmotor vehicles that he knew had been stolen.

When T.T., Sr., committed the felonies, the Juvenile CourtAct (705 ILCS 405/2-29 (West 1992)) and the Adoption Act (750ILCS 50/1(D)(i) (West 1992)) established that a court couldterminate parental rights upon finding clear and convincingevidence of the parent's depravity. The statutes did not defineor further explain the facts needed to show depravity. The 1998amendment to the Adoption Act provided:

"There is a rebuttable presumption that a parentis depraved if the parent has been criminally convictedof at least 3 felonies under the laws of this State orany other state, or under federal law, or the criminallaws of any United States territory; and at least oneof these convictions took place within 5 years of thefiling of the petition or motion seeking termination ofparental rights." 750 ILCS 50/1(D)(i) (West 1998).

DCFS relied on the amendment as grounds for the summary judgmentmotion.

T.T., Sr., moved to strike the motion for summary judgment,arguing that the due process clauses of the United States andIllinois Constitutions (U.S. Const., amend. XIV; Ill. Const.1970, art. I,