The couple went to court to gain visitation time with their dead son's children, which had been denied by his widow. A great deal has been done to assure grandparents in the other 49 states that their rights to see their grandchildren are not immediately in jeopardy, only those in Washington, according to the Associated Press. The basis for this is that the decision was made in direct concern to a portion of the Washington law that granted any person, whether related or not, the right to gain visitation rights with a child at the courts' discretion. Any decision by the Supreme Court that limits the rights of grandparents in one state can and will be used in other states to undermine the right of grandparents to see their grandchildren. Now, granted the state should not be stepping into the private business of families on a regular basis with an alarming disregard for their basic human rights.
Civil matters do arise, however.
We can all stand back and say we don't want the government telling us what to do. We are quite sure that many people maintain they want to be left alone to conduct their lives as they see fit until such time as they go to court to sue someone, then everybody is more than happy to make the government interfere in their private business. When two parties go to court to decide who has a right to custody or visitation, the government is not interfering, it is arbitrating a dispute, and for this there must be guidelines established to cover all eventualities. Grandparents should not be lumped in with the vast majority of humanity. Grandparents are the next best thing to parents, and each case must be judged on its relative merits.