DEPT. OF CHILDREN v. ADOPTION OF X.X.G.

Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Bill McCollum , Attorney General, and Scott D. Makar , Solicitor General, and Timothy D. Osterhaus , Deputy Solicitor General, for appellant.

Charles M. Auslander , The Children's Trust; Greenberg Traurig and Hilarie Bass and Elliot H. Scherker and Brigid F. Cech Samole and Ricardo Gonzalez and Elaine D. Walter , Miami; Robert F. Rosenwald, Jr. , and Shelbi D. Day , American Civil Liberties Union; Leslie Cooper ; Hillary Kambour , Guardian Ad Litem Program, for appellees.

Mary E. McAlister ; Mathew D. Staver and Anita L. Staver , Orlando, for Liberty Counsel, as amicus curiae.

Benjamin W. Bull , Brian W. Raum , Byron J. Babione , Alliance Defense Fund; Buckley & Fudge and Rebecca O'Dell Townsend , St. Petersburg, for the American College of Pediatricians, as amicus curiae.

Cynthia L. Greene , Miami; Luis E. Insignares , Fort Myers; Scott L. Rubin , Miami, for the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar, as amicus curiae.

H. Collins Forman, Jr. ; John T. Stemberger , Orlando, for Perry W. Hodges, Jr., Esquire, Dissenting Member of the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar, as amicus curiae.

Jenner & Block and William M. Hohengarten ; Nathalie F.P. Gilfoyle ; Carlton Fields and John R. Blue , St. Petersburg, and Sylvia H. Walbolt and Joseph Hagedorn Lang, Jr. , and Nancy J. Faggianelli , Tampa, for the American Psychological Association, as amicus curiae.

Paolo G. Annino and Chelsea Boehme Rice and Talbot D'Alemberte , for Talbot D'Alemberte and the Public Interest Law Center at FSU College of Law; Florida International University Juvenile Justice Clinic, Professor Phyllis Williams Kotey, Professor Margaret Maisel, Professor Troy Elder and Dr. Amy D. Ronner, as amici curiae.

Ross & Girten and Lauri Waldman Ross and Theresa L. Girten , Miami; Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr and Elizabeth L. Mitchell and Benjamin Brown and Katherine Halliday ; Professor Joan Heifetz Hollinger, for The Center for Adoption Policy; The Child Welfare League of America; The Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics; The Foster Care Alumni of America; The Foster Children's Project of the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County; The National Association of Social Workers ("NASW") and The Florida Chapter of the NASW; The National Center for Adoption Law and Policy; The National Center for Youth Law; The North American Council on Adoptable Children, as amici curiae.

Karl Johansson , in proper person, for the Christian Coalition of South Florida, as amicus curiae.

Joseph S. Jackson , for The University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law Center on Children and Families; The University of Miami School of Law Children and Youth Law Clinic; The Nova Southeastern University Law Center Children and Families Clinic; The Barry University School of Law Children and Families Clinic; Professor Barbara Bennett Woodhouse, Professor Michael J. Dale, Professor Timothy Arcaro, Professor Brion Blackwelder and Professor Gerard F. Glynn, as amici curiae.

Robin L. Rosenberg , West Palm Beach; Peterson & Myers and Stephen R. Senn, Lakeland, for The Florida's Children First, Inc., as amicus curiae.

Baker & McKenzie and Robert F. Kohlman and Angela Vigil and Robert H. Moore , Miami, and Megan Renza , for Child Advocacy Clinic at Hofstra School of Law; Children and Family Justice Center of the Bluhm Legal Clinic of Northwestern University School of Law; Civitas Child Law Center; Loyola Chicago School of Law; Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute; Justice for Children Project; Ohio State University School of Law; Juvenile Law Center; Children's Law Center of Minnesota; Lawyers for Children America; Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center; Southern Poverty Law Center; Support Center for Child Advocates, as amici curiae.

Brinkley, Morgan, Solomon, Tatum, Stanley & Lunny, for The Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, as amicus curiae.

Before COPE, SHEPHERD and SALTER, JJ.