Unmarried fathers' access rights
Elhadj Alpha Mahmoud Souare v. Akron Children's Hospital
In brief
- Where it stands
- Dismissed
The case ended without a full Supreme Court ruling on the merits.
- What it’s about
- Elhadj Alpha Mahmoud Souare’s petition says Akron Children’s Hospital denied him access to his child’s medical records under Ohio law and argues that the denial, Ohio’s treatment of unmarried fathers, and barriers tied to court fees violated his rights.
- Who it affects
- Souare's effort to challenge the denial of access to his child's records and other alleged barriers remains unresolved.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.

What it's about
He asks the Supreme Court to review related questions about federal privacy law and access to court.
Souare's petition asks the Court to consider questions about unmarried fathers' access to children's medical records, federal privacy law, and fees to pursue appeals.
Question presented
1. Whether a private hospital that explicitly invokes a state statute to deny a father access to his child's medical records acts under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, where the denial was made solely pursuant to Ohio Revised Code § 3109.042 — directly conflicting with Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922 (1982). 2. Whether the district court ’ s holding creates an unconstitutional catch-22 denying any judicial forum for fundamental parental rights, violating Boddie v. Connecticut, 401 U.S. 371 (1971). 3. Whether Ohio's categorical exclusion of unmarried fathers from their children's medical records — without notice, hearing, or individualized determination — violates the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses under Stanley v. Illinois, Troxel v. Granville, and Caban v. Mohammed. 4. Whether HIPAA, 45 C.F.R. § 164.502(g), which grants both parents the right to access a minor child's medical records absent a court order, preempts Ohio Revised Code § 3109.042 as applied by private hospitals to deny unmarried fathers access to their children's medical records. 5. Whether government-created poverty — resulting from a government-admitted wrongful license suspension that eliminated Petitioner's income — can bar access to federal appellate courts when the fees owed arise from cases challenging that same government error, in violation of Boddie v. Connecticut and Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12 (1956).
Documents
Docket activity
New analysis added
AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata
Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata
Brief added: Petition
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.