U.S. SUPREME COURT REAFFIRMS THE 'FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT' OF PARENTS TO RAISE THEIR CHILDREN

The U.S. Supreme Court handed down an important ruling this week in a case from Washington state concerning grandparents' visitation rights. The high court gave new vigor to parents' "fundamental right" to raise their families free from government interference, ruling that Washington state went too far in letting grandparents and other seek visitation. In essence, the ruling says that states must be careful in helping grandparents and others with close ties to children win the right to see them regularly against parents' wishes.

Writing for the six-member majority, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said, "So long as a parent adequately cares for his or her children, there will normally be no reason for the state to inject itself into the private realm of the family to further question the ability of that parent to make the best decisions concerning the rearing of that parent's children."

The court struck down a state law described as "breathtakingly broad." The voided law, probably the broadest in any state, had allowed "any person," whether related or not, to win a court-ordered right to see a child any time such visitation was found to be in the court's best interest.

Perhaps the most vivid legacy of the decision will be its strengthening of parents' rights. A majority of the court explicitly reaffirmed its 1925 decision in the famous case of Pierce v. Society of Sisters that the right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children is a fundamental right possessed by Americans.