Case Title: Moriarty v. Bradt

Citation: 

Docket Number: a-145-01

State: new-jersey

Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

Date: 2003-07-14T00:00:00Z

Document:
(This syllabus is not part of the opinion of the Court. It has been prepared by the Office of the Clerk for the convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the Supreme Court. Please note that, in the interests of brevity, portions of any opinion may not have been summarized). Julia Bradt and Patrick Moriarty were married in 1987 and had two children, a son born in 1987 and a daughter born in 1990 (the children). The couple separated and Moriarty instituted a divorce action. At the time of the separation, Bradt was hospitalized for drug abuse and the children remained with Moriarty. Bradt's parents (the grandparents) intervened in the divorce action to secure visitation time with the children. In 1991, pursuant to an agreement between the parties, the trial court entered a pendente lite order that, among other things, granted Moriarty custody of the children and granted the grandparents visitation. The final judgment of divorce in 1993 granted Moriarty sole custody of the children. Bradt was granted supervised visitation in the grandparents' presence. Both parties remarried in 1994. In August 1994, Bradt was granted unsupervised visitation, which took place in New Jersey. The grandparents saw the children during most weekends that Bradt had visitation. Subsequently, significant animosity developed between Moriarty and the grandparents. Bradt died in November 1999, apparently from a drug overdose. After a dispute between Moriarty and the grandparents over whether the children should attend the funeral, the grandparents moved on an emergency basis before the trial court to permit the children to attend. The court granted the motion and ordered regular visitation with the grandparents. After a dispute in December over holiday visitation, a consent order was entered that granted visitation until a plenary hearing could be held. The court ordered diagnostic evaluations of Moriarty, the grandparents, and the children. The evaluations of Moriarty and the grandparents resulted in positive reports, and the diagnostic team determined that the grandparents could serve as a conduit with the children's deceased mother and could be a positive resource for the children in many ways. The report recommended unsupervised grandparent visitation once per month for two full days in New Jersey, in addition to other recommended contact. In June 2000, Moriarty filed a motion for summary judgment on the issue of grandparent visitation in light of the United States Supreme Court's ruling in Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 120 S. Ct. 2054, 147 L. Ed. 2d 49 (2000)(invalidating the State of Washington's grandparent visitation statute on grounds that it infringed on fit parents' constitutional right to rear their children). Moriarty offered the following visitation schedule that he believed to be in the best interests of the children: the grandparents were allowed to visit one day each month during an activity of the children on either Saturday or Sunday and for two hours after such activity. The children would not be permitted to leave Bergen County at any time during the visitation. In August 2000, the trial court heard oral argument on the motion, during which Moriarty argued that Troxel required the trial court to defer to his decision as a fit parent. The court ordered a plenary hearing, as mandated by New Jersey's Grandparent Visitation Statute, to afford the grandparents an opportunity to present expert testimony and witnesses. On November 9, 2000, the court ordered grandparent visitation as follows: (1) monthly visitation alternating between a five-hour visit one month and a visit with two overnights the next month, and (2) one extended visitation period in July or August. The court relied, in part, on the grandparents' expert, who opined that such visitation was necessary to protect the children from the harm that would befall them if they were alienated from their grandparents. Moriarty appealed, arguing that New Jersey's statute is unconstitutional as applied to this case and that the trial court abused its discretion in not abiding by the schedule he had proposed. In an unpublished opinion, the Appellate Division reversed the trial court and remanded for implementation of visitation as requested by Moriarty. The panel found no fault with the judge's factual findings, but held that the decision of a fit parent to curtail grandparent visitation cannot, on these facts, be subject to attack. HELD : Grandparents seeking visitation under New Jersey's Grandparent Visitation Statute, N.J.S.A. 9:2-7.1, must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that denial of the visitation they seek would result in harm to the child. In this case, the grandparents met that burden. 1. At common law, grandparents had no legal right to petition for visitation with their grandchildren. Because of the rise in family breakups and the increase in life expectancy, however, the importance of the grandparent-grandchild relationship has been recognized. Although as a general proposition the grandparents' role in a child's life may be very important, not all grandparent/grandchild relationships are beneficial. Each case in which grandparents are pitted against parents must stand or fall on its own facts. That is the backdrop on which New Jersey's Grandparent Visitation Statute was enacted. (Pp. 13 to 18). 2. In 1972, New Jersey enacted the Grandparent Visitation Statute. As amended in 1973, the statute afforded standing to grandparents to seek visitation when either or both of the parents of a minor child was or were deceased, or divorced, or living separate and apart. Subsequent amendments removed the requirement that the parents be deceased or divorced and granted standing to siblings to seek visitation. In its present form, the statute underscores the fact-sensitive nature of the inquiry by detailing seven particularized considerations for the court and instructing the court to consider as well any other factor relevant to the child's best interests. The Grandparent Visitation Statute, like all others, is presumed to be constitutional a presumption that may be rebutted only on a showing that a provision of the Constitution is clearly violated by the statute. (Pp. 18 to 22). 3. The right to rear one's children has been identified as a fundamental liberty interest protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Although often expressed as a liberty interest, childrearing autonomy is rooted in the right to privacy. Thus, when the State seeks, by statute, to interfere with family and parental autonomy, a fundamental right is at issue. Such a statute is subject to strict scrutiny and will pass muster only if it is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest. (Pp. 22 to 27). 4. In Troxel, the United States Supreme Court addressed the constitutionality of the Washington State nonparental visitation statute. In a plurality decision, the Court held that the Washington statute impermissibly intruded on the mother's rights in that case. The Court found the statute impermissibly overbroad because it permitted any person to petition for visitation and permitted a court to decide that visitation was in a child's best interest. Also, the Court observed that the statute failed to accord any special weight to a parent's decision regarding visitation and, in effect, the statute created a presumption in favor of visitation and placed the burden of disproving visitation on the fit parent. The Court avoided the basic issue of the appropriate level of scrutiny and the standard to be applied. It also stopped short of invalidating nonparental visitation statutes per se and declined to define the precise scope of the parental due process right in the visitation context. Consequently, the Court did not rule on whether a showing of harm or potential harm to a child is required as a condition precedent to ordering visitation. In sum, Troxel instructs that a fit parent's fundamental due process right is protected where a nonparental visitation statute respects a fit parent's decision regarding visitation by according him or her the traditional presumption that a fit parent acts in the best interests of the child, and by giving special weight to a fit parent's determination on visitation. (Pp. 27 to 35). 5. Recently, this Court confronted the appropriate standard for grandparent visitation in a cognate setting. In Watkins v. Nelson, 163 N.J. 235 (2000), in a struggle between grandparents and a natural father over the custody of a child, the Court found that utilizing a best interests standard violated the fundamental right of the father to family autonomy. The Court determined that only a showing of unfitness, abandonment, gross misconduct or exceptional circumstances would overcome the presumption in favor of the parent, and that "exceptional circumstances" requires proof of serious physical or psychological harm or a substantial likelihood of such harm. Watkins explains that avoiding harm to the child is the polestar and the constitutional imperative that is necessary to overcome the presumption in favor of the parent's decision and to justify intrusion into family life. (Pp. 39 to 44). 6. Because the Grandparent Visitation Statute is an incursion on a fundamental right, under Watkins, it is subject to strict scrutiny and must be narrowly tailored to advance a compelling state interest. The only state interest warranting the invocation of the State's parens patriae jurisdiction to overcome the presumption in favor of a parent's decision and to force grandparent visitation over the wishes of a fit parent is the avoidance of harm to the child. When no harm threatens a child's welfare, the State lacks a sufficiently compelling justification for the infringement on the fundamental right of parents to raise their children as they see fit. However, when harm is proved and the presumption in favor of a fit parent's decision making is overcome, the court must decide the issue of an appropriate visitation scheduled based on the child's best interests. (Pp. 44 to 46). 7. Because custody and visitation applications by a third party both implicate the right to family autonomy and privacy, both are subject to the same constitutional protection. Nevertheless, an award of custody to a third party is a greater invasion into family life than grandparent visitation. Therefore, the Court declines to require grandparents to prove by clear and convincing evidence the necessity for visitation to avoid harm to the children, and instead approves the preponderance of the evidence burden in the statute as fully protecting the fundamental rights of parents when coupled with the harm standard. Thus, in every case in which visitation is denied, the grandparents bear the burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that visitation is necessary to avoid harm to the child. The grandparents' evidence can be expert or factual. If the court agrees that the potential for harm has been shown, the presumption in favor of parental decision making will be deemed overcome. At that point, the parent must offer a visitation schedule. If the grandparents are satisfied, that will be the end of the inquiry. If not, a second step will be taken an assessment of the schedule. The court should approve a schedule that it finds is in the child's best interest, based on the application of the statutory factors listed in N.J.S.A. 9:2-7.1. The Court's resolution results in sustaining the statute by adding a threshold harm standard that is a constitutional necessary because a parent's right to family privacy and autonomy are at issue. All other provisions of the statute remain intact. (Pp. 46 to 50). 8. Here, the trial court recognized Troxel and stated that it was giving great deference to Moriarty's request. The court also placed the burden of proof on the grandparents. In part, the court found that an extensive relationship existed between the grandparents and the children, and that the grandparents served as a link to the children's mother, to whom they were very bonded and very distressed by her death. The judge noted the experts' opinions that it was extremely important that the children continue a bond with their mother's family and that Moriarty's attempts to alienate the children from the grandparents by severely limiting visitation would be destructive psychologically. In short, the court found that visitation with the grandparents was necessary to avoid harm to the children. That finding, which was fully supported by the record, overcame the presumption in favor of Moriarty's decision making and allowed the court to fashion carefully a schedule to serve the children's best interests. (Pp. 50 to 57). The judgment of the Appellate Division is REVERSED, and the order of the trial court is REINSTATED. JUSTICE VERNIERO, concurring in part and dissenting in part, agrees that a fit parent's decision regarding his or her child's visitation with a non-parent can be overridden only by evidence of demonstrable physical or psychological harm to the child. However, he believes that the movant must establish such harm by clear and convincing proof, and he would remand the matter to the trial court to determine whether that standard was satisfied. CHIEF JUSTICE PORITZ and JUSTICES COLEMAN, LaVECCHIA, ZAZZALI, and ALBIN join in JUSTICE LONG's opinion. JUSTICE VERNIERO filed a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. Plaintiff-Respondent, v. JULIA E. BRADT, Defendant, and LYNN JACK BRADT and PATRICIA BRADT, Intervenors-Appellants. Argued January 21, 2003 Decided July 14, 2003 On certification to the Superior Court, Appellate Division. Francis W. Donahue argued the cause for appellants (Donahue, Hagan, Klein & Newsome, attorneys; Mr. Donahue, Eric S. Solotoff and Jennifer E. Jacobson, on the briefs). Robert T. Corcoran argued the cause for respondent (Mr. Corcoran, attorney; Mr. Corcoran and Christopher R. Cavalli, on the briefs). Ronald K. Chen argued the cause for amicus curiae American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (Mr. Chen and J.C. Salyer, attorneys). Walter A. Lesnevich and Rochell Babroff, a member of the District of Columbia and Maryland bars, submitted a brief on behalf of amicus curiae AARP Foundation Litigation (Lesnevich & Marzano-Lesnevich, attorneys). The opinion of the Court was delivered by LONG, J. In Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 120 S. Ct. 2054, 147 L. Ed. 2d 49 (2000), the United States Supreme Court struck down what it denominated as a breathtakingly broad grandparent visitation statute enacted by the State of Washington. That decision has cast a cloud over the grandparent visitation statutes of the remaining forty-nine states. In this case, we are called on to assess our own Grandparent Visitation Statute (N.J.S.A. 9:2-7.1) in light of Troxel and in light of our prior jurisprudence on the subject. More particularly, because the grandparents in this case seek to override the father s determination regarding visitation, we are asked to test the statute against the fundamental right of fit parents to make decisions regarding the care and custody of their children. We hold that grandparents seeking visitation under the statute must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that denial of the visitation they seek would result in harm to the child. That burden is constitutionally required to safeguard the due process rights of fit parents. Finally, we hold that, in this case, the grandparents have met that burden. (3) The best interests of the child are not furthered by forcing the child into the midst of a conflict of authority and ill feelings between the parent and grandparent. (4) Where there is a conflict as between grandparent and parent, the parent alone should be the judge, without having to account to anyone for the motives in denying the grandparent visitation. (5) The ties of nature are the only efficacious means of restoring normal family relations and not the coercive measures which follow judicial intervention. [ 66 N.J. 426, 431 (1975) (quoting Duncan Gault, Statutory Grandparent Visitation, 5 St. Mary s L.J. 474, 480-81 (1973) (internal citations omitted)).] That reasoning flowed from the social science research of the day. In fact, historically, there was practically no research regarding grandparents because most studies that related to family life were guided by emphasis on the isolated nuclear family. Chrystal C. Ramirez Barranti, The Grandparent/Grandchild Relationship: Family Resource in an Era of Voluntary Bonds, 34 Fam. Rel. 343, 344 (1985). Even positing a role for grandparents was viewed as antithetical to the norms of self-reliance and independence which were attributed to the nuclear family. Ibid. (citations omitted). Originally, those attitudes reflected the fact that longevity rates did not allow most grandparents to play a long-term role in their grandchildren s lives. Id. at 343. Things began to change as grandparents lived longer and had more opportunity to forge a sustained and lengthy relationship with their grandchildren. Ibid. The rise in family breakups also played a part in reinvigorating the grandparents role. Id. at 346; see Thomas E. Denham & Craig W. Smith, The Influence of Grandparents on Grandchildren: A Review of the Literature and Resources, 38 Fam. Rel. 345, 345 (1989) (noting that increased longevity rates and demographic changes, such as family disruption through divorce, alcoholism, and/or other social problems, have opened the door to a new and growing emphasis on grandparenthood ). Against that setting, new explorations of the grandparents role in American society were begun in the late 1950s through the 1970s. Ramirez Barranti, supra, 34 Fam. Rel. at 344. Additional initiatives were aimed at developing typologies of grandparenthood. Ibid.; see also Denham & Smith, supra, 38 Fam. Rel. at 347 (noting that typologies assist in characterizing types of behavior and style of interaction that take place). Many such typologies emerged, including but not limited to historian, mentor, role model, and nurturer. Ramirez Barranti, supra, 34 Fam. Rel. at 345 (citing Arthur Kornhaber, M.D. & Kenneth L. Woodward, Grandparents/Grandchildren: The Vital Connection (1981)). Moreover, the importance of the grandparent-grandchild relationship in the lives of children has been confirmed. See id. at 346-47 (describing studies by Baranowski, Kornhaber and Woodward, and Mead in support of that contention). The emotional attachments between grandparents and grandchildren have been described as unique in that the relationship is exempt from the psycho-emotional intensity and responsibility that exists in parent/child relationships. The love, nurturance, and acceptance which grandchildren have found in the grandparent/grandchild relationship confers a natural form of social immunity on children that they cannot get from any other person or institution. [Id. at 346 (citing Kornhaber & Woodward, supra, at xiii-xiv).] Commentators have suggested that, [i]n the absence of a grandparent/grandchild relationship, children experience a deprivation of nurturance, support, and emotional security. Id. at 346-47 (describing studies by Kornhaber and Woodward and Mead). Indeed, Kornhaber and Woodward posited that the complete emotional well-being of children requires that they have a direct, and not merely derived, link with their grandparents. Id. at 347 (quoting Kornhaber & Woodward, supra, at 163). Mead advanced the notion that when an individual does not have intergenerational family relationships there is a resulting lack of cultural and historical sense of self. Ibid. To be sure, those broad conclusions would not necessarily apply to a grandparent with an emotional disorder or serious character or behavioral flaws or to one who placed the child in danger or sought to subvert the relationship of the child to his parents. See, e.g., King v. King, 828 S.W.2d 630, 632 (Ky.) (noting that children ordinarily benefit from contact with grandparents that are physically, mentally, and morally fit ), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 941, 113 S. Ct. 378, 121 L. Ed. 2d 289 (1992); Stanton, supra, 7 Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of N. Am. at 410 (noting that grandparents who interfere with childrearing and parental discipline can negatively affect family relationships). Grandparents, like every other group of humans in society, are not monolithic. They range across the spectrum from wholesome nurturers to bad influences. See Karen Czapanskiy, Grandparents, Parents and Grandchildren: Actualizing Interdependency in Law, 26 Conn. L. Rev. 1315, 1324-31 (1994) (noting that psycho-social research indicates that not all grandparent/grandchild relationships are beneficial to grandchildren; rather, many grandparent/grandchild relationships merely provide grandchildren with ephemeral benefits). Thus, although as a general proposition the grandparents role in a child s life may be very important, each case in which grandparents are pitted against parents over visitation with grandchildren must stand or fall on its own facts. See Troxel, supra, 530 U.S. at 73, 120 S. Ct. at 2064, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 61 (observing that much state-court adjudication regarding grandparent visitation occurs on a case-by-case basis ). That is the backdrop on which our Grandparent Visitation Statute was enacted. The Washington Court of Appeals reversed and dismissed the grandparents petition on the basis that nonparents lack standing to seek visitation under 26.10.160(3) unless a custody action is pending. Id. at 62, 120 S. Ct. at 2058, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 54. The grandparents appealed, and the Washington Supreme Court affirmed. Id. at 62-63, 120 S. Ct. at 2058, 147 L. Ed 2d at 55. The court found that the grandparents had standing based on the unambiguous language of 26.10.160(3) but affirmed the appellate court s ultimate ruling that the grandparents were not entitled to visitation under the statute because the statute impermissibly interfered with the fundamental right of parents to rear their children. Id. at 62-63, 120 S. Ct. at 2058, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 55. Clearly underpinning the court s decision was its conviction that the best interest standard articulated in the statute was insufficient to serve as a compelling state interest. See id. at 63, 120 S. Ct. at 2058, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 55 (noting that Washington Supreme Court observed that state only has compelling interest warranting interference with parental autonomy to protect child from harm or potential harm). The United States Supreme Court, in a plurality opinion authored by Justice O Connor, reaffirmed that the parental right to raise children is guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and held that the Washington statute impermissibly intruded on the mother s rights. Id. at 65-67, 120 S. Ct. at 2059-61, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 56-58. First, the Court focused on the breathtakingly broad nature of the Washington statute because it permitted any person, at any time, to petition a court for visitation and permitted a court to decide that visitation was in a child s best interest. Id. at 67, 120 S. Ct. at 2061, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 57. Second, the Court observed that the statute failed to accord any special weight to a parent s decision regarding visitation. Id. at 67, 120 S. Ct. at 2061, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 57. Thus, in practical effect, . . . a court can disregard and overturn any decision by a fit custodial parent concerning visitation whenever a third party affected by the decision files a visitation petition, based solely on the judge s determination of the child s best interests. Id. at 67, 120 S. Ct. at 2061, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 57-58 (emphasis in original). Third, the Court noted that no party had alleged that the mother was an unfit parent. Id. at 68, 120 S. Ct. at 2061, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 58. As such, the presumption that a fit parent acts in the best interests of his or her child was turned on its head by effectively assuming a presumption in favor of visitation and placing the burden of disproving visitation on the mother, a fit parent. Id. at 69, 120 S. Ct. at 2062, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 58. Finally, the Court noted that there was no allegation that the mother sought to discontinue visitation between the grandparents and her children; rather, she sought to limit that visitation to an amount that she believed was in her daughters best interest. Id. at 71, 120 S. Ct. at 2062-63, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 60. Given that combination of factors, in conjunction with the Washington trial court s slender findings, the Court held that 26.10.160(3) as applied to the mother was unconstitutional. Id. at 72, 120 S. Ct. at 2063-64, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 60-61. The Court avoided the basic issue of the appropriate level of scrutiny and the standard to be applied. It also stopped short of invalidating nonparental visitation statutes per se and declined to define the precise scope of the parental due process right in the visitation context because the constitutionality of any standard for awarding visitation turns on the specific manner in which that standard is applied as much state-court adjudication in this context occurs on a case-by-case basis. Id. at 73-74, 120 S. Ct. at 2064, 147 L. Ed 2d at 61-62 (citations omitted). Consequently, the Court did not rule on whether a showing of harm or potential harm to a child is required as a condition precedent to ordering visitation. Id. at 73, 120 S. Ct. at 2064, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 61. Justice Souter concurred in the judgment but would have affirmed the decision of the Washington Supreme Court, which invalidated 26.10.160(3) on its face because of the overbroad statutory language. Id. at 75-77, 120 S. Ct. at 2065-66, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 62-64 (Souter, J., concurring in judgment). Justice Thomas authored a brief opinion concurring in the judgment, wherein he noted that the Court failed to articulate the appropriate standard of review. Id. at 80, 120 S. Ct. at 2068, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 65 (Thomas, J., concurring in judgment). Justice Thomas would have applied strict scrutiny because a fundamental right was implicated and would have invalidated the statute because of its inability to pass that level of scrutiny. Id. at 80, 120 S. Ct. at 2068, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 65 (Thomas, J., concurring in judgment). See footnote 2 The Supreme Court of Arkansas recently reduced the holding in Troxel to its basic elements. Linder v. Linder, 72 S.W.3d 841, 852-55 (Ark. 2002). We agree with that analysis: To summarize, six Justices agreed that the case should be affirmed (O Connor, Rehnquist, Ginsburg, Breyer, Souter, and Thomas). Eight Justices agreed that the Fourteenth Amendment protects a parent s right to raise his or her child without undue interference from government (all but Scalia; Thomas with reservations). Five Justices agreed that a fit parent is accorded a presumption that the parent acts in the child s best interests (O Connor, Rehnquist, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Stevens). Four Justices (O Connor, Rehnquist, Ginsburg, and Breyer) agreed that special factors must justify the state s intrusion, and that one of those factors is a finding of parental unfitness. [Id. at 855.] In sum, although eschewing the articulation of the level of scrutiny and the standard to be applied to a grandparent visitation statute, Troxel instructs at least this much -- that a fit parent has a fundamental due process right to the care and nurturance of his or her children; that that right is protected where a nonparental visitation statute respects a fit parent s decision regarding visitation by (1) according him or her the traditional presumption that a fit parent acts in the best interests of the child; and (2) giving special weight to a fit parent s determination regarding visitation. Troxel, supra, 530 U.S. at 66, 69, 120 S. Ct. at 2060, 2062, 147 L. Ed 2d at 57-59. Other salient factors mentioned in Troxel include: the breadth of a statute s standing requirement, id. at 67, 120 S. Ct. at 2061, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 57; whether harm or potential harm is required before a court may order visitation, id. at 73, 120 S. Ct. at 2064, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 61; the denial of visitation in its entirety, id. at 71, 120 S. Ct. at 2062-63, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 60; and whether the statute requires more than a simple best interest analysis, id. at 67, 120 S. Ct. at 2061, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 57-58. Many state courts have decoded Troxel s elliptical message in similar fashion. See, e.g., Roth, supra, 789 A.2d at 439 (concluding that Troxel plurality found that Washington statute was unconstitutional as applied because trial court made no finding of unfitness; trial court failed to accord any weight to mother s determination of her children s best interests; and no allegation was made that visitation was cut off completely); Rideout, supra, 761 A.2d at 297 (determining that Troxel provided some guidance on important points, including that parents have fundamental right to care, custody, and control of their children, which does not give way to third party s petition for visitation; best interests standard, without more, is insufficient for state to interfere with parental decision making; and special weight must be given to parents decisions because of presumption that he or she acts in child s best interest); Blixt, supra, 774 N.E.2d at 1058-59 (construing Troxel to provide following guideposts: reaffirmation of parent s liberty interest in raising his or her child is fundamental right; any person should not be granted standing to seek visitation; presumption exists that parents act in child s best interest, which warrants significant deference; and potential impact of grandparent visitation on parent-child relationship should be considered in trial court s analysis). [Watkins, supra, 163 N.J. at 245 (quoting In re D.T., 200 N.J. Super. 171, 176-77 (App. Div. 1985)).] In setting forth an appropriate standard, he stated: Since the right of parents to the custody of their minor children is both a natural and legal right, the law should not disturb the parent/child relationship except for the strongest reasons and only upon a clear showing of a parent s gross misconduct or unfitness or of other extraordinary circumstances affecting the welfare of the child. See 59 [Am. Jur. 2d] Parent and Child, 25 at 107-108 (1971). [Watkins, supra, 163 N.J. at 245 (quoting In re D.T., supra, 200 N.J. Super. at 176-77).] Justice Coleman went on to characterize that standard as deeply rooted in our jurisprudence: Not surprisingly, the concept that a presumption of custody exists in favor of a parent, and that only a showing of unfitness, abandonment, gross misconduct, or exceptional circumstances will overcome this presumption, is steeped in the history and common law of this State. See, e.g., In re D.T., supra, 200 N.J. Super. at 175-76, 491 A.2d 7; E.T. v. L.P., 185 N.J. Super. 77, 84, 447 A.2d 572 (App. Div. 1982); S. v. H.M. & E.M., 111 N.J. Super. 553, 558-59, 270 A.2d 48 (App. Div. 1970); Kridel v. Kridel, 85 N.J. Super. 478, 489, 205 A.2d 316 (App. Div. 1964); In re Mrs. M., 74 N.J. Super. 178, 183-84, 186, 181 A.2d 14 (App. Div. 1962); In re Adoption of B. by E. & R., 152 N.J. Super. 546, 551, 378 A.2d 90 (Union County Ct. 1977); Jacobson v. Jacobson, 146 N.J. Super. 491, 497, 370 A.2d 65 (Ch. Div. 1976); Ex parte Alsdorf, 142 N.J. Eq. 246, 252-53, 59 A.2d 610 (Ch. 1948); Gardner v. Hall, 132 N.J. Eq. 64, 78, 26 A.2d 799 (Ch. 1942), aff d[,] 133 N.J. Eq. 287, 31 A.2d 805 (E. & A. 1943); Pope v. Brown, 3 N.J. Misc. 572, 572-73, 128 A. 851 (Ch. 1925); Hesselman v. Haas, 71 N.J. Eq. 689, 694, 64 A. 165 (Ch. 1906). [Watkins, supra, 163 N.J. at 246.] He explained: The principle that a showing of gross misconduct, unfitness, neglect, or exceptional circumstances affecting the welfare of the child will overcome this presumption, is a recognition that a parent s right to custody is not absolute. That parental right must, at times, give way to the State s parens patriae obligation to ensure that children will be properly protected from serious physical or psychological harm. In re Guardianship of K.H.O., 161 N.J. 337, 347, 736 A.2d 1246 (1999); In re Guardianship of J.C., 129 N.J. 1, 10, 608 A.2d 1312 (1992). This has been our law for more than a century. As early as 1889, the highest Court in this State allowed the presumption in favor of a natural parent to be overcome by a showing of exceptional circumstances. Richards v. Collins, 45 N.J. Eq. 283, 17 A. 831 (E. & A. 1889). More recently, in Sorentino v. Family & Children s Soc. of Elizabeth, 72 N.J. 127, 131-132, 367 A.2d 1168 (1976), appeal after remand, 74 N.J. 313, 378 A.2d 18 (1977), the Court acknowledged that even if parental rights cannot be terminated on statutory grounds, exceptional circumstances based on the probability of serious psychological harm to the child may deprive a parent of custody. Ibid. Sees v. Baber, 74 N.J. 201, 221-22, 377 A.2d 628 (1977), recognized the same principle. [Watkins, supra, 163 N.J. at 246-47.] Importantly, in distinguishing between best interests and the proper standard -- gross misconduct, unfitness, or exceptional circumstances -- Justice Coleman observed: A significant difference between the child s best interests test and the parental termination or exceptional circumstances standard is that the former does not always require proof of harm to the child. In contrast, the latter always requires proof of serious physical or psychological harm or a substantial likelihood of such harm. [Id. at 248 (emphasis added).] In other words, avoiding harm to the child is polestar and the constitutional imperative that is necessary to overcome the presumption in favor of the parent s decision and to justify intrusion into family life. Once the presumption is overcome, Watkins explains the methodology to be adopted: The standard that controls a custody dispute between a third party and a parent involves a two-step analysis. The first step requires application of the parental termination standard or a finding of exceptional circumstances. Although an award of custody to a third party does not involve a termination of all parental rights, such an award destroys any pretense of a normal parent-child relationship and eliminates nearly all of the natural incidents of parenthood including everyday care and nurturing which are part and parcel of the bond between a parent and child. Zack v. Fiebert, 235 N.J. Super. 424, 432, 563 A.2d 58 (App. Div. 1989). It is cardinal [in our society] that the custody, care and nurture of the child reside first in the parents. Ginsberg v. New York, 390 U.S. 629, 639, 88 S. Ct. 1274, 1280, 20 L. Ed. 2d 195 (1968). Because the right to custody is a fundamental one protected by the constitution, In re Guardianship of K.H.O., supra, 161 N.J. at 347, 736 A.2d 1246, the parental termination or exceptional circumstances standard is required to pass constitutional muster in this type of custody dispute. That principle is consistent with Zack and Todd, which stand for the proposition that when a third party, such as a stepparent, establishes psychological parentage with the child, the third party stands in the shoes of a natural parent. Zack, supra, 235 N.J. Super. at 432-33, 563 A.2d 58; [Todd v. Sheridan, 268 N.J. Super. 387, 397, 633 A.2d 1009, 1014 (App. Div. 1993)]. That means that when the exceptional circumstances prong is satisfied, for example by establishing that the third party has become a psychological parent, the standard for determining custody is the same as between two fit parents: the child s best interest test articulated in N.J.S.A. 9:2-4c. Zack, supra, 235 N.J. Super. at 433, 563 A.2d 58. If either the statutory parental termination standard or the exceptional circumstances prong is satisfied, the second step requires the court to decide whether awarding custody to the third party would promote the best interests of the child. A child s best interests standard does not contain within it any idealized lifestyles. [In re Baby M, 109 N.J. 396, 460, 537 A.2d 1227, 1260 (1998)]. It can never mean the better interest of the child. Division of Youth [&] Family [Servs.] v. A.W., 103 N.J. 591, 603, 512 A.2d 438 (1986). It is not a choice between a home with all the amenities and a simple apartment, or an upbringing with the classics on the bookshelf as opposed to the mass media, or even between parents or providers of vastly unequal skills. Ibid. (citations omitted). That said, the point to be emphasized is that the best interest of the child cannot validly ground an award of custody to a third party over the objection of a fit parent without an initial court finding that the standard for termination of the rights of a non-consenting parent or the exceptional circumstances prong has been satisfied. [Watkins, supra, 163 N.J. at 253-55.] Because the Grandparent Visitation Statute is an incursion on a fundamental right (the right to parental autonomy), under Watkins, it is subject to strict scrutiny and must be narrowly tailored to advance a compelling state interest. Our prior jurisprudence establishes clearly that the only state interest warranting the invocation of the State s parens patriae jurisdiction to overcome the presumption in favor of a parent s decision and to force grandparent visitation over the wishes of a fit parent is the avoidance of harm to the child. When no harm threatens a child s welfare, the State lacks a sufficiently compelling justification for the infringement on the fundamental right of parents to raise their children as they see fit. However, when harm is proved and the presumption in favor of a fit parent s decision making is overcome, the court must decide the issue of an appropriate visitation schedule based on the child s best interests. Although Troxel avoided confronting that issue directly, we are satisfied that prior United States Supreme Court decisions fully support our conclusion that interference with parental autonomy will be tolerated only to avoid harm to the health or welfare of a child. Compare Yoder, 406 U.S. at 230, 92 S. Ct. at 1540-41, 32 L. Ed. 2d at 33-34 (noting that interference with childrearing was not justified because Amish children would not be physically or mentally harmed from receiving an Amish education as opposed to public education (emphasis added)); Stanley, supra, 405 U.S. at 649, 92 S. Ct. at 1211, 31 L. Ed 2d at 557 (requiring showing of parental unfitness with concomitant harm to child before terminating unwed father s parental rights (emphasis added)); Pierce, supra, 268 U.S. at 534, 45 S. Ct. at 573, 69 L. Ed. at 1078 (holding that state s interest was inadequate to justify interference in family life because children were not harmed by parents decision to send their children to private schools as those schools fulfilled their obligations (emphasis added)); Meyer, 262 U.S. at 403, 43 S. Ct. at 628, 67 L. Ed. at 1046-47 (striking down state law that forbade children from learning foreign language because, among other things, such knowledge was not so clearly harmful as to justify its inhibition with the consequent infringement of rights long freely enjoyed (emphasis added)), with Prince, supra, 321 U.S. at 169-70, 64 S. Ct. at 444, 88 L. Ed. at 654 (upholding parent s conviction for violating state child labor laws because selling religious magazines to public could lead to emotional, psychological, or physical injury to child (emphasis added)). In reaching that conclusion, it bears repeating that a dispute between a fit custodial parent and the child s grandparent is not a contest between equals. We have long recognized that the best interest standard, which is the tiebreaker between fit parents, See footnote 3 is inapplicable when a fit parent is in a struggle for custody with a third party. Watkins, supra, 163 N.J. at 253-54; Todd, supra, 268 N.J. Super. at 396-97; Zack, supra, 235 N.J. Super. at 432-33. Because custody and visitation applications by a third party both implicate the right to family autonomy and privacy, both are subject to the same constitutional protection. See, e.g., R.S.C. v. J.B.C., 812 So. 2d 361, 369 (Ala. Civ. App. 2001) (noting that visitation is essentially form of temporary custody while it is being exercised) (footnote omitted); Roth, supra, 789 A.2d at 447 n.13 (remarking that [v]isitation is a limited form of custody during the time the visitation rights are being exercised (quoting In re Marriage of Gayden, 280 Cal. Rptr. 862 (Cal. Ct. App. 1991))). Nevertheless, it would be unrealistic not to distinguish between an award of custody to a third party and grandparent visitation based on the level of intrusion into family life that each entails. The former is obviously a greater invasion of family autonomy and privacy than the latter. It is for that reason that we have declined to adopt the position of our colleague who would require grandparents to prove by clear and convincing evidence the necessity for visitation to avoid harm to the children. Post at ___ (slip op. at 1) (Verniero, J., concurring in part, dissenting in part). We instead approve the preponderance of the evidence burden in the statute as fully protecting the fundamental rights of parents when coupled with the harm standard. Thus, in every case in which visitation is denied, the grandparents bear the burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that visitation is necessary to avoid harm to the child. The grandparents evidence can be expert or factual. For example, they may rely on the death of a parent or the breakup of the child s home through divorce or separation. In fact, many of the fifty grandparent visitation statutes specifically recognize the potential for harm when a parent has died or a family breakup has occurred and visitation is denied. In addition, the termination of a long-standing relationship between the grandparents and the child, with expert testimony assessing the effect of those circumstances, could form the basis for a finding of harm. See, e.g., Roth, supra, 789 A.2d at 445 (noting that proof of substantial, emotional ties between child and nonparent could result in harm to child if contact with that person is denied or curtailed); Blixt, supra, 774 N.E.2d at 1060 (observing that [t]he requirement of significant harm presupposes proof of a showing of a significant preexisting relationship between the grandparent and the child ). The possibilities are as varied as the factual scenarios presented. If the court agrees that the potential for harm has been shown, the presumption in favor of parental decision making will be deemed overcome. At that point, the parent must offer a visitation schedule. If the grandparents are satisfied, that will be the end of the inquiry. If not, a second step will be undertaken -- an assessment of the schedule. The presumption in favor of parental decision making having been overcome, the court should approve a schedule that it finds is in the child s best interest, based on the application of the statutory factors. See N.J.S.A. 9:2-7.1 (listing statutory factors); Watkins, supra, 163 N.J. at 254 (noting that once exceptional circumstances are found, court should award custody based on child s best interests). When visitation is not denied outright but the grandparents challenge the sufficiency of the proffered schedule, the same standard will apply. They will be required to prove that visitation is necessary and that the proffered visitation schedule is inadequate to avoid harm to the child. Once those proofs satisfy the court and the presumption in favor of parental decision making is overcome, the court will be required to develop a schedule that is in the child s best interest based on the statutory factors. Our resolution results in sustaining the statute by adding a threshold harm standard that is a constitutional necessity because a parent s right to family privacy and autonomy are at issue. All other provisions of the statute remain intact. We note that where necessary to save a statute, appropriate construction [to] restore [it] to health is a well-established rule. First Family Mortgage Corp. v. Durham, 108 N.J. 277, 290 (1987), appeal dismissed, 487 U.S. 1211, 108 S. Ct. 2860, 101 L. Ed. 2d 897, and cert. dismissed, 487 U.S. 1213, 108 S. Ct. 2863, 101 L. Ed. 2d 899 (1988). . . . . Also, the relationship between the children and the grandparents is significant in a different way because their mother has died recently. Their link to their mother is through their grandparents and through that branch of the family. These children are very aware and were very bonded apparently with their mother and very distressed by her death and very upset by her death. . . . . In any event, the children have a relationship, a special relationship with their grandparents, not only because they spent so much time with them in the past and have gone to so many different activities and have learned a lot educationally and have a bond with their cousin, but also because it is through their grandparents that they can reconnect with their mother. Brian in particular indicated in the Family Services report that he hears his mother speaking to him upon occasion. I think the [Moriartys] have made efforts to give treatment and help and counseling to these children. They understand that they suffered a loss. But the grandparents can offer the children a link with their mother, a love for their mother, an understanding of their mother, a sense of being whole with their mother and their mother s side of the family that cannot be obtained elsewhere. The court then turned to the relationship between the Moriartys and the grandparents: There is a very bad relationship between Mr. [Moriarty] and the Bradts. The Family Services report indicates that Mr. [Moriarty] has alienated the children from the grandparents and that he tried to prevent visitation between [the mother] and the children. Mr. [Moriarty], when he testified about his former in-laws, he could not completely contain his hostile emotions. I had to ask him several times to keep his voice down because he raised his voice. When referring to the grandparents he said that they were evil. That he had a Christian household and they were evil. He described them as being alcoholics, drug addicts and murderers. He described the grandfather as consistently hitting the children. He described the grandmother as being an alcoholic, as he also described the grandfather that way. He said that the grandfather had molested [the mother]. There seems to be some indication that [the mother] indicated that she was molested by her grandfather, not the party in this case. But Mr. [Moriarty] testified that it was Jack Bradt who had molested [the mother]. Mr. [Moriarty] blamed the Bradts completely and totally for the problems that their daughter Julie suffered. It was his view that they caused this problem and it was his, Mr. [Moriarty] s, obligation to protect Brian and Tara from the evil influence of the grandparents. Mr. [Moriarty] has to his credit tried to modify some of these extreme views most of the time when he talks about the situation, but under oath on the stand I think I m quite accurate in reflecting what his emotional and belief system is towards the grandparents. So that through the litigation he talks about the activities that the children have and the fact that the grandparents want to interfere with these activities, but when pressed on the stand he admitted that it wasn t the activities so much as the influence which the grandparents have on the children which is what he is trying to protect them from. And that makes absolute sense to me. It isn t that he is so worried that one of the children might miss hockey practice or might not get to go to a birthday party, it is because he is, in his view and his opinion these grandparents exercise an evil influence on the children. And so with regard to that factor, the relationship between the children s father and the grandparents is a poor relationship and there has been significant hostility. I mentioned the domestic violence restraining order that was granted to the grandmother against the father and there have been other police interaction, some of which were testified to and some of which were not, but were in the papers. The time that has elapsed since the children last had contact with the applicants was addressed this way: This is not a situation where the children have not had contact with the grandparents for a long time. There has been visitation ordered. . . . [T]here has been contact as recently as October, last month. So there s been a lot of contact recently between grandparents and grandchildren. The court then turned to the effect that visitation will have on the relationship between the children and the children s parents. Of that, the court stated: I don t think visitation will have any effect on the relationship between Tara and Brian and their father and stepmother. By all accounts the [Moriartys] have a very close relationship with Tara and Brian and I cannot see that these children having visitation with their grandparents, whatever the duration, is going to affect the children s relationship with their parents, that is with their father and their stepmother. I do think that the [Moriartys] understand, I hope that they understand, I think that they understand, that denigrating and putting down the grandparents to the children is a very destructive thing to do and I would expect that they would not do that. I know there are allegations back and forth that the adults say negative things about each other, but I would expect them not to do that in front of the children. With respect to the good faith of the grandparents, the court observed: The grandparents here are filing the application in good faith and I think that they have modified their request in good faith because they have testified under oath that they consulted with various professionals about the extent to which they should be involved with their grandchildren s life and again, for whatever reasons but that being one of them, they have withdrawn the requests that they made earlier. . . . . However, they are in total good faith in their application and in filing this. They want to spend time and be a part of their grandchildren s lives. They love their grandchildren and they believe that it is in their grandchildren s best interest to have regular extensive contact with their grandparents. The court also found that there was no history of emotional, physical, or sexual abuse or neglect by the grandparents. The trial court s most critical findings were as follows: The other factor that I would put in here would be the death of the mother and the fact that it is extremely important that the children continue a bond with their mother s side of the family. And the experts all agreed on that. Family Services agreed on it and Dr. Judith Brown [Greif] agreed on it, that it was important that there be extensive visitation with the grandparents. . . . . Dr. [Greif], who did not interview the parties but she read the Family Services evaluation and took their evaluation to be accurate in terms of what they found, and she indicated that this in her view, and she is very well regarded and very knowledgeable and very experienced in matters of custody evaluations and strained relationships, and she said that if, in fact, as the Family Services found that the [Moriartys] were alienating the children from their grandparents, that that alienation could not be counteracted with a short visit. That it requires the time for the children to be immersed in the environment of the grandparents to get away from the alienation and be able to have a good time with the grandparents without feeling guilty towards the father and their stepmother that they are having a good time with the grandparents. . . . . I asked Dr. [Greif] whether any harm would come to the children if visitation was as limited as that requested by Mr. [Moriarty] and what she said is that allowing such limited visitation would allow the alienation by the father and his wife towards the grandparents to succeed. Because let me just say, the reason I asked Dr. [Greif] this is because it seemed to me that certainly the possibility was there that putting these children in between these adults who are so hostile towards each other would be a negative thing for them and maybe it would be just better, since they re with Mr. [Moriarty] who s a fit parent and his wife, to just keep them there and let them have them give up their relationship with the grandparents and at least there would not be so much strife. So I asked Dr. [Greif] what would the harm be of allowing only the limited visitation that Mr. [Moriarty] is requesting. The answer is the harm would be that the alienation would succeed and that the children would believe essentially that half of them, that their mother s half is evil, is damaged, is bad, and that this would cause self-esteem problems for the children since the children know that they re made up of their mother and their father. So if their mother s family is so evil and bad, it means that the children themselves, it would mean to the children, that they themselves are half bad or half evil and that this would be a very destructive thing psychologically for these children. The court went on to establish the visitation order previously described and stated: The reason that I am interfering, if you will, with Mr. [Moriarty] s desire with regard to this other visit is to protect the children from the harm that would befall them if they were alienated from their grandparents. This trip once every two months for two overnights would allow the children to be in the environment of their grandparents. Allow them to continue to go on outdoors activities. To continue from time to time through the year to meet with their cousin Natalie. To have other family activities with the extended family of their mother. And to know that they are still a full and complete part of that family. In a sense, the court presaged our opinion by the finding that visitation with the grandparents was necessary to avoid harm to the children. That finding, which was fully supported by the record, overcame the presumption in favor of Moriarty s decision making and allowed the court to fashion carefully a schedule to serve the children s best interests. X The judgment of the Appellate Division is reversed. The order of the trial court is reinstated. CHIEF JUSTICE PORITZ and JUSTICES COLEMAN, LaVECCHIA, ZAZZALI, and ALBIN join in JUSTICE LONG s opinion. JUSTICE VERNIERO filed a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. SUPREME COURT OF NEW JERSEY A- 145 September Term 2001 Plaintiff-Respondent, v. JULIA E. BRADT, Defendant, and LYNN JACK BRADT and PATRICIA BRADT, Intervenors-Appellants. VERNIERO, J., concurring in part, dissenting in part. I concur in much of the Court s opinion. Specifically, I agree that a fit parent s decision regarding his or her child s visitation with a non-parent can be overridden only by evidence of demonstrable physical or psychological harm to the child. Unlike the majority, however, I believe that the movant must establish such harm by clear and convincing proof, not by a simple preponderance of the evidence. In that respect, I subscribe entirely to the view articulated by the American Civil Liberties Union in its amicus brief: The existence of demonstrable harm is a fact-intensive inquiry that of course should be performed by the trial court in the first instance. It may well embrace the concept of emotional injury that a child may suffer if a previously established positive relationship with a grandparent or sibling is suddenly severed. But because the court necessarily acts with less than complete knowledge and understanding of all the complex factors that are relevant in making this determination, and because special deference must be afforded to the wishes of the parent, an additional procedural safeguard is needed to compensate for this inherent limitation in the judicial fact-finding process. A finding that harm exists should be proved not merely by a simple preponderance of the evidence standard, but by the enhanced clear and convincing evidence standard that applies when individual constitutional interests are at stake. [See, e.g.,] Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745[, 102 S. Ct. 1388, 71 L. Ed. 2d 599] (1982) (requiring clear and convincing evidence of neglect to terminate parental rights); V.C. v. M.J.B., 163 N.J. 200[, cert. denied, 531 U.S. 926, 121 S. Ct. 302, 148 L. Ed. 2d 243] (2000) (requiring clear and convincing evidence of harm to deny psychological parent visitation). See generally, Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242[, 106 S. Ct. 2505, 91 L. Ed. 2d 202] (1986) (requiring clear and convincing evidence in establishing actual malice in libel case); E.B. v. Verniero, 119 F.3d [1077] (3d Cir. 1997) (requiring clear and convincing evidence, rather than mere preponderance of evidence, of probability of reoffense in Megan s Law notification in order to overcome due process and privacy interests of registrant)[, cert. denied sub nom., W.P. v. Verniero, 522 U.S. 1109, 118 S. Ct. 1039, 140 L. Ed. 2d 105 (1998)]. In allegations of psychological harm, it is often easy, and perhaps too easy, to articulate a colorable claim of such harm and thereby undermine parental judgment. Thus, the clear and convincing evidence standard can be of very real assistance in mandating adherence to constitutional norms, particularly in cases such as this, where the harm that would allegedly result from curtailing, but not eliminating, visitation between the Bradts and their grandchildren has been colorably articulated, but perhaps not convincingly demonstrated. The Court appropriately models its approach on the standard articulated in our prior case, Watkins v. Nelson, 163 N.J. 235 (2000). We were not required in Watkins to specify whether a clear and convincing showing of harm would be required in the present setting. We did, however, observe that the law should not disturb the parent/child relationship except for the strongest reasons and only upon a clear showing of a parent s gross misconduct or unfitness or of other extraordinary circumstances affecting the welfare of the child. Id. at 245 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). I construe that statement as being consistent with our imposing a clear and convincing burden of proof within the context of the current dispute. I do not wish to prolong this litigation any more than is necessary. Given the fundamental constitutional issues at stake, however, I see no choice but to direct a remand to the trial court for further proceedings. It would be best for the children, of course, if the parties were to resolve their differences amicably and without further judicial involvement. Absent that resolution, which no longer appears possible, the trial court must intervene. It should do so only after permitting the parties to argue and submit additional evidence, if any, consistent with the elevated burden of proof to which I have adverted. If the movants succeed in satisfying that burden, then the trial court should approve a visitation schedule in the same manner set forth by the majority. To summarize: I do not condone plaintiff s reaction to the Bradts. As the trial court found, however, there is no allegation that plaintiff is an unfit parent. As a result, plaintiff s decision in respect of visitation should be immune from judicial intervention absent a showing by clear and convincing evidence of harm to the children. Accordingly, I would remand the matter to the trial court to determine whether that standard has been satisfied. Both children are now teenagers and soon will be of age to decide these issues for themselves. The process, however, is best served by the trial court ratifying, modifying, or rescinding its prior decision after it applies what I perceive to be the correct test. In all other respects, I agree with the Court s opinion. NO. A-145 SEPTEMBER TERM 2001 ON CERTIFICATION TO Appellate Division, Superior Court PATRICK MORIARTY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. JULIA E. BRADT, Defendant, And LYNN JACK BRADT and PATRICIA BRADT, Intervenors-Appellants. DECIDED July 14, 2003 Chief Justice Poritz PRESIDING OPINION BY Justice Long CONCURRING IN PART/DISSENTING IN PART Justice Verniero DISSENTING OPINION BY