Troxel v. Granville
| Troxel v. Granville | |
|---|---|
| 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.