HONESTY'S THE BEST POLICY; CONVICTED KILLER'S PARENTS HAD A RIGHT TO KNOW THE FAMILY HISTORY OF THE CHILD THEY WERE ACCEPTING INTO THEIR LIVES.

Convicted killer Jeremy Strohmeyer's adoptive parents are suing Los Angeles County, saying officials should never have presented him as a candidate for adoption in 1979.

John and Winifred Strohmeyer have a legitimate point that is a serious question for prospective adoptive parents.

They are suing the county for intentional misrepresentation, fraud, deceit and negligence.

In 1979, when the couple were applying to the county for adoption, they filled out a form that stated they did not want to adopt a child whose parents had a history of drug addiction or mental illness.

When they adopted a year-old boy in 1980, they claim they were never informed by county officials that the child's birth mother was diagnosed as a chronic schizophrenic.

Their adopted son, Jeremy Strohmeyer, is now serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after being convicted in Nevada of sexually assaulting and strangling 7-year-old Sherrice Iverson of Los Angeles on May 25, 1997.

The couple, who paid more than $600,000 to defend their adopted son, contend ``the chronic schizophrenia which affected Jeremy's birth mother was, in large part, responsible for this crime.''

And while they say they still love their adopted son, they are raising a valid point for other prospective parents. County employees have an ethical and moral obligation to be honest about the birth mother's background, even if it means that babies will be passed over for adoption.

Families need information to make a decision, especially since they are undertaking a lifetime commitment to raise a child. Most families would likely consider the information and still adopt babies whose mothers have been drug addicts or who have mental illness.

But that should be their choice to make. Deceit is never an acceptable public policy.