Case Title: Ex parte R.G.

Citation: 

Docket Number: 1140191

State: alabama

Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Date: 2015-01-30T00:00:00Z

Document:
Rel: 1/30/15
Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance
sheets of Southern Reporter.  Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions,
Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334) 229-
0649), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made before
the opinion is printed in Southern Reporter.
SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA
OCTOBER TERM, 2014-2015
____________________
1140191
____________________
Ex parte R.G.
PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS
(In re: R.G.
v.
Limestone County Department of Human Resources)
(Limestone Juvenile Court, JU-12-145.02;
Court of Civil Appeals, 2130582)
BRYAN, Justice.
WRIT DENIED. NO OPINION.
1140191
Stuart, Bolin, Parker, Murdock, Shaw, Main, and Wise,
JJ., concur.
Moore, C.J., dissents.
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1140191
MOORE, Chief Justice (dissenting). 
I respectfully dissent. The Limestone Juvenile Court
terminated the parental rights of R.G., the petitioner, who
challenges Alabama courts' use of the ore tenus standard of
review in termination-of-parental-rights cases. Judge Moore
discussed this issue thoroughly in his special concurrence in
J.C. v. State Department of Human Resources, 986 So. 2d 1172,
1197-1202 (Ala. 
Civ. App. 2007) 
(analyzing Santosky v. Kramer,
455 U.S. 745 (1982), which adopted the clear-and-convincing
evidence standard of proof in termination-of-parental-rights
cases). Judge Moore concluded that the "constitutional
concerns implicated in every termination-of-parental-rights
case command stricter scrutiny than the ore tenus rule
provides." 986 So. 2d  at 1199. I agree with Judge Moore's
constitutional concerns about the standard of review in
termination-of-parental-rights 
cases; 
therefore, 
I 
would 
grant
the petition and ask the parties to submit additional briefs
regarding the constitutionality of the ore tenus standard of
review in such cases.
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