Troxel v. Granville | |
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Argued January 12, 2000 Decided June 5, 2000 | |
Full case name | Troxel et vir v. Granville |
Citations | 530 U.S. 57 (more) 120 S. Ct. 2054; 147 L. Ed. 2d 49; 2000 U.S. LEXIS 3767 |
Case history | |
Prior | In Re Custody of Smith, 137 Wn.2d 1, 969 P.2d 21 (1998); cert. granted, 527 U.S. 1069 (1999). |
Holding | |
Parents have a fundamental right to control the upbringing of their children, and a law that allows anyone to petition a court for child visitation rights over parental objections unconstitutionally infringes on this right. Courts may not use a freestanding "best interest of the child" standard to overturn parental rights. | |
Court membership | |
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Case opinions | |
Plurality | O'Connor, joined by Rehnquist, Ginsburg, Breyer |
Concurrence | Souter (in judgment) |
Concurrence | Thomas (in judgment) |
Dissent | Stevens |
Dissent | Scalia |
Dissent | Kennedy |
Laws applied | |
U.S. Const. amend. XIV |
Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000), is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States, citing a constitutional right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children, struck down a Washington law that allowed any third party to petition state courts for child visitation rights over parental objections.[1][2]