four months after they brought veronica home, dustin brown signed a waiver saying he would not contest the adoption. but two weeks later, brown decided he wanted his daughter back. and filed for paternity and custody. jessica monday is a friend. >> it wasn't until this child was 4 months old that he decides he wants to be a part of her life. with no regard to the birth mother, her decision, the pregnancy, the family that's taken care of his child, and to just come and say, i've changed my mind, that just doesn't work, it shouldn't work that way. >> reporter: south carolina law says aather is stripped of his paternity rights if he hasn't provided prebirth support or taken steps to be a father shortly after birth. but in this case, state law was trumped by a little known federal law from 1978. called the indian child welfare act. you see, brown is a member of the cherokee nation. which means veronica is part cherokee too. so before they could finalize the adoption, a family court judge ruled in favor of veronica's biological father, ordering them to hand her over. the law's designed to p

four months after they brought veronica home, dustin brown signed a waiver saying he would not contestater, brown decided he wanted his daughter back and filed for paternity and custody. jessica monday is a friend of the capobiancos. >> it wasn't until this child was 4 months old that he decides he wants to be a part of her life. with no regard to the birth mother, her decision, the pregnancy, the family that's taking care of his child. and to just come and say i've changed my mind, it just doesn't work -- it shouldn't work that way. >> reporter: south carolina law says a father is stripped of his paternity rights if he hasn't provided prebirth support or taken steps to be a father shortly after birth. but in this case, state law was trumped by a little known federal law from 1978. called the indian child welfare act. you see, brown is a member of the cherokee nation, which means veronica is part cherokee, too. so, before the capobiancos could finalize veronica's adoption, a family court judge ruled in favor of veronica's biological father, ordering the capobiancos to hand her over. th

the south carolina supreme court ruling with the biological father, dustin brown, who did an about-face. four months into this little girl's life, four months after she was born, he decides he's had it with the waiver and wants his daughter back. so, he gets involved and files a lawsuit and now has full parental custody. >> yeah, they actually handed her over on new year's eve. so, she's in the other state with her biological father. >> in oklahoma now. >> right, so it sounds like this was just a case of federal law trumping state law? >> this is exactly the case. asar as the supreme court in south carolina has ruled, this is federal law trumping the state law. and this is, for the critics concerned, an outdated law, randi. as you reported a few months ago, in the lat 1970s, there was a swath of native american children that were just being ripped from their home. 30% of native american children, in fact, as you reported, 90% of which weren't going into households of native american dissent. so there was concern there on u.s. congress's behalf and they created this federal statute which

ward. >> reporter: we tried to ask dustin brown why he wanted his daughter back but he didn't answerne family in pieces. another trying to make itself whole. randi kaye, cnn, bartonsville, oklahoma. >> today, the supreme court upheld veronica's return to her biological father. it was a split decision 3-2. in a statement, veronica's adoptive parents said there really are no words to describe the incredible heartbreak disappointment and pain. this is a complete failure. we want to dig deeper into this with disability rights attorney and children's advocate raven martin. also senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. is this just a case where federal law trumps state law? >> that's how the south carolina supreme court saw it. they said that under this unusual statute from 1978 -- a statute that really had a good purpose. you know, there was a time when 30% of indian children were being taken from their biological parents and the congress said, look, that is -- that's a terrible injustice. so they -- this law went into effect. it clearly does not seem to -- they didn't intend it for this situ

agrees with the lower court and saying this little girl has to be raised by her biological father, dustin brownproblem here, he gave her up to this couple, matt and melanie bianco would cared for her since birth and signed a waiver saying he would never contest her adoption. he used a little known federal law since 1978. brown is a member of the cherokee nation, which means veronica is part cherokee, too. nick is joining me now is talk more about this. this is such a difficult ruling for the family. they've been waiting a couple of months to hear what the supreme court would rule. we're talking about this law from 19d 78 to protect indian children. that's how it was set up. but this doesn't seem like the intent for what it was intended to be used for. >> well, the critics of this federal statute which trumps south carolina law, which as you know, if a father is not involved in the baby support before the birth, he immediately loses the federal rights. well, this little known law was used by dustin. and did an about face. he signed a waiver, randy, four months after the baby was born, four month