ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Maryland Court of Appeal ruled Monday in favor of a mother defending her parental rights against a non-parent’s claim to her eight-year-old girl. ADF attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the Family Research Council asking the court to affirm the constitutional parental rights of the mother.
“The government should promote and encourage strong families. Undermining the rights of fit parents harms families and children,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks. “A court shouldn’t be able to override the constitutional rights of fit parents. Permitting third parties to obtain court-mandated interaction with children, contrary to the objections of fit parents, runs counter to basic constitutional principles.”
“Moms and dads should not have to live in fear that the government can start giving other people rights to their children,” Nimocks added. “Thankfully, the Maryland decision has protected parents against such attacks.”
In March 2007, a trial court had affirmed the mother’s custody of the girl, whom she adopted from India when the child was one-year old and was the child’s only adoptive parent. When the mother, Janice M., ended her relationship with another woman, Margaret K., Margaret sued, claiming she should be granted “de facto” parent status and be allowed to have regular visitation with Janice’s daughter (
www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4044).
According to the opinion from the high court, “the Circuit Court erred in granting visitation to Margaret K. on the grounds that she was a de facto parent without first finding either that Janice M. was an unfit parent or that sufficient exceptional circumstances existed to overcome Janice
M.’s liberty interest in the care, custody, and control of her child.”
The full text of the opinion by the Maryland Court of Appeal in
Janice M. v. Margaret K. is available at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/JaniceMvMargaretKOpinion.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
www.telladf.org www.domawatch.org