A Child Asserts His Legal Rights

AN ORDINARY BOY HAS WON AN EXTRAORDINARY victory. After two days of emotionally charged -- and televised -- testimony, Florida Circuit Judge Thomas S. Kirk granted Gregory Kingsley, 12, his dearest wish: to be "divorced" from his natural parents and adopted by George and Lizabeth Russ, the foster family he has come to love.

Gregory's plight attracted national attention and even reached the podium of the G.O.P. convention, where conservative Pat Buchanan cited the case in his attack on Hillary Clinton, implying Gregory's lawsuit was an assault on the American family and could unleash a flood of frivolous litigation by willful...