Parental Rights and Responsibilities Act of 1995

Summary: Parental Rights and Responsibilities Act of 1995 - Prohibits any Federal, State, or local government or any official of such a government from interfering with or usurping the right of a parent to govern the upbringing of a child of the parent. 
Disallows any exception to this Act unless the government or official is able to demonstrate, by appropriate evidence, that such interference or usurpation is valid to accomplish a compelling government interest, in which case only the least amount of interference may be used.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Parental Rights and Responsibilities 
Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) the Supreme Court has regarded the right of parents to 
        direct the upbringing of their children as a fundamental right 
        implicit in the concept of ordered liberty within the 14th 
        amendment to the Constitution of the United States, as 
        specified in Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923) and Pierce 
        v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510 (1925);
            (2) the role of parents in the raising and rearing of their 
        children is of inestimable value and deserving of both praise 
        and protection by all levels of government;
            (3) the tradition of western civilization recognizes that 
        parents have the responsibility to love, nurture, train, and 
        protect their children;
            (4) some decisions of Federal and State courts have treated 
        the right of parents not as a fundamental right but as a 
        nonfundamental right, resulting in an improper standard of 
        judicial review being applied to government conduct that 
        adversely affects parental rights and prerogatives;
            (5) parents face increasing intrusions into their 
        legitimate decisions and prerogatives by government agencies in 
        situations that do not involve traditional understandings of 
        abuse or neglect but simply are a conflict of parenting 
        philosophies;
            (6) governments should not interfere in the decisions and 
        actions of parents without compelling justification; and
            (7) the traditional 4-step process used by courts to 
        evaluate cases concerning the right of parents described in 
        paragraph (1) appropriately balances the interests of parents, 
        children, and government.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to protect the right of parents to direct the 
        upbringing of their children as a fundamental right;
            (2) to protect children from abuse and neglect as the terms 
        have been traditionally defined and applied in statutory law, 
        such protection being a compelling government interest;
            (3) while protecting the rights of parents, to acknowledge 
        that the rights involve responsibilities and specifically that 
        parents have the responsibility to see that their children are 
        educated, for the purposes of literacy and self-sufficiency, as 
        specified by the Supreme Court in Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 
        205 (1972);
            (4) to preserve the common law tradition that allows 
        parental choices to prevail in a health care decision for a 
        child unless, by neglect or refusal, the
         parental decision will result in danger to the child's life or 
result in serious physical injury of the child;
            (5) to fix a standard of judicial review for parental 
        rights, leaving to the courts the application of the rights in 
        particular cases based on the facts of the cases and law as 
        applied to the facts; and
            (6) to reestablish a 4-step process to evaluate cases 
        concerning the right of parents described in paragraph (1) 
        that--
                    (A) requires a parent to initially demonstrate 
                that--
                            (i) the action in question arises from the 
                        right of the parent to direct the upbringing of 
                        a child; and
                            (ii) a government has interfered with or 
                        usurped the right; and
                    (B) shifts the burdens of production and persuasion 
                to the government to demonstrate that--
                            (i) the interference or usurpation is 
                        essential to accomplish a compelling 
                        governmental interest; and
                            (ii) the method of intervention or 
                        usurpation used by the government is the least 
                        restrictive means of accomplishing the 
                        compelling interest.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) Appropriate evidence.--The term ``appropriate 
        evidence'' means--
                    (A) for a case in which a government seeks a 
                temporary or preliminary action or order, except cases 
                which terminate parental custody or visitation, 
                evidence that demonstrates probable cause; and
                    (B) for a case in which the government seeks a 
                final action or order, or in which it seeks to 
                terminate parental custody or visitation, clear and 
                convincing evidence.
            (2) Child.--The term ``child'' has the meaning provided by 
        State law.
            (3) Parent.--The term ``parent'' has the meaning provided 
        by State law.
            (4) Right of a parent to direct the upbringing of a 
        child.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``right of a parent to 
                direct the upbringing of a child'' includes, but is not 
                limited to a right of a parent regarding--
                            (i) directing or providing for the 
                        education of the child;
                            (ii) making a health care decision for the 
                        child, except as provided in subparagraph (B);
                            (iii) disciplining the child, including 
                        reasonable corporal discipline, except as 
                        provided in subparagraph (C); and
                            (iv) directing or providing for the 
                        religious teaching of the child.
                    (B) No application to parental decisions on health 
                care.--The term ``right of a parent to direct the 
                upbringing of a child'' shall not include a right of a 
                parent to make a decision on health care for the child 
                that, by neglect or refusal, will result in danger to 
                the life of the child or in serious physical injury to 
                the child.
                    (C) No application to abuse and neglect.--The term 
                ``right of a parent to direct the upbringing of a 
                child'' shall not include a right of a parent to act or 
                refrain from acting in a manner that constitutes abuse 
                or neglect of a child, as the terms have traditionally 
                been defined.
            (5) State.--The term ``State'' includes the District of 
        Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and each territory 
        and possession of the United States.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON INTERFERING WITH OR USURPING RIGHTS OF PARENTS.

    No Federal, State, or local government, or any official of such a 
government acting under color of law, shall interfere with or usurp the 
right of a parent to direct the upbringing of the child of the parent.

SEC. 5. STRICT SCRUTINY.

    No exception to section 4 shall be permitted, unless the government 
or official is able to demonstrate, by appropriate evidence, that the 
interference or usurpation is essential to accomplish a compelling 
governmental interest and is narrowly drawn or applied in a manner that 
is the least restrictive means of accomplishing the compelling 
interest.

SEC. 6. CLAIM OR DEFENSE.

    Any parent may raise a violation of this Act in an action in a 
Federal or State court, or before an administrative tribunal, of 
appropriate jurisdiction as a claim or a defense.

SEC. 7. DOMESTIC RELATIONS CASES AND DISPUTES BETWEEN PARENTS.

    This Act shall not apply to--
            (1) domestic relations cases concerning the appointment of 
        parental rights between parents in custody disputes; or
            (2) any other dispute between parents.

SEC. 8. ATTORNEY'S FEES.

    Subsections (b) and (c) of section 722 of the Revised Statutes (42 
U.S.C. 1988 (b) and (c)) (concerning the award of attorney's and expert 
fees) shall apply to cases brought or defended under this Act. A person 
who uses this Act to defend against a suit by a government described in 
section 4 shall be construed to be the plaintiff for the purposes of 
the application of such subsections.