News Analysis contains excerpts from the For Expert Comment service. The service, which provides timely faculty comments to media across the country, is distributed by the Office of University Communications.
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Susan Frelich Appleton, J.D., professor of law and associate dean of faculty, is following the grandparents' visitation rights case (Troxel vs. Granville) that recently was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and is slated for a ruling later this spring. Appleton specializes in the legal aspects of parental rights, reproductive rights, adoption, divorce, welfare reform and surrogate motherhood. She is the co-author of a leading casebook on family law and an outspoken critic of governmental intrusion into the intimate aspects of individuals' lives.
"The Supreme Court has a 'dangerous opportunity' in the grandparents' visitation rights case," Appleton said. "The case concerns more than just grandparents. The court must resolve a constitutional challenge to the State of Washington's very expansive statutes that allow any person to petition at any time for visitation with a child under any circumstances.
"A broad ruling either way could have very unfortunate consequences for some children," she continued. "On the one hand, a rule of virtually unfettered parental control could upset some established relationships between children and individuals who have played a significant nurturing role in their lives, although without the benefit of the label 'parents.'
"On the other hand, a broad ruling in favor of court-ordered visitation by third parties could undermine the decision-making authority that children need to know their parents possess, and could also require parents to defend their choices about who should have access to their children," Appleton said.
"In walking this fine line that both respects the presumptively private nature of family life and also recognizes the importance of emotional attachment in child development, the justices must remain sensitive to the increasing diversity of modern family forms, which might include various members of extended families, stepparents, a parent's same-sex partner, just to name a few examples," she said.
"Child custody has long stood out as an area in which judges have succumbed to the temptation to impose their own value judgments -- something the justices must try to avoid here," Appleton concluded. "The Washington statutes go too far. The court should strike them down, while leaving room for more narrowly crafted efforts to address the issues raised here."
