SJC hears dispute over Massachusetts court jurisdiction in newborn custody case

The Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments over whether a Massachusetts juvenile court had subject-matter jurisdiction to adjudicate a care-and-protection case for a newborn born in a Connecticut hospital, attorneys told the justices during oral argument.

Attorney Sherry Krasner, representing the child, told the court: "I'm asking the court to laser focus on two statutes, chapter 119 and chapter 209B," and argued those statutes, read together, require dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.

The issue matters because a finding that Massachusetts courts lacked jurisdiction would require dismissal or remand of the underlying care-and-protection proceedings and would shift responsibility for the child's welfare and any investigations to Connecticut authorities.

Krasner said the infant "came into care when he was 2 days old. That was 268 days ago," and urged the court to treat Chapter 119's "child of the Commonwealth" threshold as dispositive.…