grandparents and vawa (grandparents only)

[Melissa L. Koehn]

At 05:46 PM 10/1/99 -0400, Leslie F Goldstein wrote:

>this seems a hard case.  Parents clearly , by precedents. have a
>fundamental right to control the upbringing of their children.  But
>children would seem to have a fundamental interest in having a
>relationship with any living grandparents, and it is an interest that
>certainly has been traditionally honored in our society.

        I'm not sure this is the type of interest the court will
recognize, however.  Most of the Supreme Court cases discussed
in this thread have focused almost exclusively on the parents,
and not on the children's rights/interests.  Michael v. Gerald
explicitly rejected the child's interest in remaining in contact
with a man who treated her like a daughter and whom she called
"daddy."  If a child doesn't have an interest in contact with
her biological father with whom she has established a relationship,
can she have a protectible interest in any relationship with
grandparents?

Melissa L. Koehn
Visiting Asst. Prof
Wayne State University
koehnm at utulsa.edu

"They're drawing a chalk outline around common sense,
and most Americans don't even recognize the victim."

                        -- Dennis Miller Show