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| The control of the records is left to other state law. In some | | states paternity records are open to the public, and a fundamental | | change in handling of the records is beyond the scope of this Act. | | The accreditation agencies provide guidance on this subject. For | | example, the American Association of Blood Banks requires that | | accredited laboratories maintain records for at least five years. | | Because a laboratory performing testing under this Act should be | | accredited, see § 503(a), supra, protection is thus provided to the | | tested person's records under the accreditation standards. |
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| | | PROCEEDING TO ADJUDICATE PARENTAGE |
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| | | §1921.__Proceeding authorized |
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| | | A civil proceeding may be maintained to adjudicate the | | parentage of a child. The proceeding is governed by the Maine | | Rules of Civil Procedure. |
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| | | (This is section 601 of the UPA.) |
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| | | A determination of paternity is governed by the ordinary rules | | of civil procedure. The party seeking to establish paternity is | | entitled to full discovery, to compel the testimony of all | | witnesses, and to have the case tried by a preponderance of the | | evidence. "The equipoise of the private interests that are at | | stake in a paternity proceeding supports the conclusion that the | | standard of proof normally applied in private litigation is also | | appropriate for these cases." Rivera v. Minnich, 483 U.S. 574, | | 581 (1987). |
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| | | A corresponding amendment to UPC § 2-114 was not made until | | the major revision of 1990 (as further revised in 1993). By that | | time, it had been recognized as illogical and unjust to impose | | discriminatory burdens on children born out-of-wedlock who were | | seeking paternal inheritance. It also had been ruled | | unconstitutional by application of the intermediate scrutiny test | | formulated under the 14th Amendment. Reed v. Campbell, 476 U.S. | | 852 (1986) Moreover, by 1990 the preponderance of the evidence |
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