Most divorces, no matter how contentious, are not often interesting from a legal perspective. However, my parents’ divorce was unusual in that it wound its way all the way to the United States Supreme Court, IKYN: Sosna v. Iowa, 419 U.S. 393. As a result, I’m immortalized in the decision as one of their three children.
Decades ago on a lark, I visited the University of Iowa Law Library to see if I could find the case in whatever reference book it might exist. I successfully found its reference number but, having no idea how to navigate a law library, I ask for help at the information desk. The law student working there looked at the reference and said Sosna v. Iowa? We just studied that in class. Why are interested? I learned that the case is unique and the only precedent of its type and therefore referenced often..
[And please contact an actual lawyer to better understand the case, as I’m not a lawyer and can only superficially explain what I believe it means.]
That evening I called my mom and told her the story, and that her divorce is still top of the charts. She laughed and asked Are you going to tell Dad? We agreed that it might be best to not tell him, so I didn’t. Occasionally over the years the story would be retold and we’d laugh about it.
[My father is a lawyer and presumably he was asked (too) many times if he was that Michael Sosna, so need to mention it again as if I was rubbing it in his face.]
And every so often I get to tell the story to uninitiated friends or co-workers who are surprised that I, lowly software engineer, are a part of a Supreme Court decision!
