Is it legal to seal birth certificates, since they are a matter of public record?
I”ve read, but don’t know the laws of the state of HI, where it is normal for the birth records of a child to be sealed upon adoption. In this case Obama was adopted when he was four yrs old.
Is it legal to seal birth certificates, since they are a matter of public record?
I”ve read, but don’t know the laws of the state of HI, where it is normal for the birth records of a child to be sealed upon adoption. In this case Obama was adopted when he was four yrs old.
Yes its legal.
VITAL records, as birth certificates are called are not considered to be public records and Hawaii law stipulates that ONLY the person named on the certificate or their surrogates can have access to a vital record. That is the law in many other states as well. If anyone had access to everyone else’s birth certificate, identity theft would be even more rampant than it already is.
Upholding Hawaii law is why a Republican Governor who has campaigned for John McCain and who has called Barack Obama unqualified to be President has sealed his long form birth certificate.