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- Path: sparky!uunet!psinntp!factory!richard.donovan
- From: richard.donovan@factory.com (Richard Donovan)
- Newsgroups: alt.missing-kids
- Subject: TAKING KIDS
- Message-ID: <151.731.uupcb@factory.com>
- Date: 28 Jul 92 00:58:00 GMT
- Distribution: world
- Organization: Invention Factory's BBS - New York City, NY - 212-274-1243v.32bis
- Reply-To: richard.donovan@factory.com (Richard Donovan)
- Lines: 42
-
-
- Santosky -v- Kramer
- 455 US 745 102 SCt 1388, 1982
-
- Parents appealed from the judgement of the Family Court, Ulster
- County, J. Elwyn, which adjudged their children to be permanently
- neglected. The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division,
- affirmed, 75 AD2d 910 NYS2d 319. The New York Court of Appeals
- dismissed the parent's appeal. Certiorari was granted. The Supreme
- Court, Justice Blackmun, held that before a state may sever
- completely and irrevocably the rights of parents i their natural
- child, due process requires that the state support its allegations
- by at least clear and convincing evidence, and , therefore, the "
- fair preponderance of the evidence" standard prescribed by the New
- York Family COurt Act for the termination of parental rights denied
- the parents due process.
- Judgement vacated and remanded.
-
- Justice Rhenquist filed a dissenting opinion in which Chief Justice
- Burger, Justice White and Justice O'Connor joined.
-
- 1. Fundamental liberty interest of natural parents in care, custody
- and management of their child does not evaporate because they have
- not been model parents or have lost temporary custody of their
- child to State. US Constitution, Amends. 5 & 14.
-
- 2. EVen when blood relationships are strained, parents retain a
- vital interest preventing irretrievable destruction of their family
- life, if anything, persons faced with forced dissolution of their
- parental rights have more critical need for procedural protections
- than do those resisting state intervention in ongoing family
- affairs.
-
- 3.When state moves to destroy weakened family bonds, it must
- provide parents with fundamentally fair procedure.
-
- 4.Nature of process due in parental rights termination proceedings
- turns on balancing of private interests affected by proceedings;
- risk of error created by State's chosen procedure; and
- countervailing governmental interest supporting use of challenged
- procedure.
-
-