Opinion ID: 2257561
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Fundamental Rights Analysis

Text: The Pennsylvania statute is of neutral application. There is no presumption contained within the statutory text that the best interest of the child will be promoted by any particular custodial disposition. The statute confers standing and sets the standard, and then the court balances the relative rights of the parties. Our grandparent visitation statute is meant to protect children's well-being by providing for visitation when it is in their best interests. It also seeks to preserve the right of access of grandparents to their grandchildren under certain specific circumstances. In the declaration of policy preliminary to the grandparent custody and visitation statute, the: General Assembly declares that it is the public policy of this Commonwealth, when in the best interest of the child, to assure a reasonable and continuing contact of the child with both parents after a separation or dissolution of the marriage and the sharing of the rights and responsibilities of child rearing by both parents and continuing contact of the child or children with grandparents when a parent is deceased, divorced or separated. 23 Pa.C.S. § 5301 (emphasis added). The specific statutory section states: If a parent of an unmarried child is deceased, the parents or grandparents of the deceased parent may be granted reasonable partial custody or visitation rights, or both, to the unmarried child by the court upon a finding that partial custody or visitation rights, or both, would be in the best interest of the child and would not interfere with the parent-child relationship. The court shall consider the amount of personal contact between the parents or grandparents of the deceased parent and the child prior to the application. 23 Pa.C.S. § 5311. The competing constitutional rights of parent and child must be evaluated in light of the government's position within these areas of conflicting interests. Further, the Commonwealth has a legitimate concern in aiding in the parental discharge of the primary and fundamental duties and responsibilities of the family with regard to child welfare and safety. The state has a definite and discrete interest in the safety and welfare of children and exercises this responsibility in a number of different ways. Also, this Court requires that, when competing fundamental constitutional interests are presented, or multiple constitutional concepts face conflict, we must search for harmony to provide each a field of operation. We have previously given voice to the benefits of the intergenerational relationship between grandparents and grandchildren. [Children] . . . have the natural right to know their grandparents and . . . benefit greatly from that relationship. Grandparents give love unconditionally-without entanglement with authority or discipline, and often without pressures of other burdensome responsibilities. Children derive a greater sense of [worth] from grandparental attention and better see their place in the continuum of family history. Wisdom is imparted that can be attained nowhere else. The benefits derived by a [child] from the society of his or her grandparents have frequently been touched upon by psychologists and psychiatrists. . . . They are substantial benefits and should not be lightly regarded by our judicial system. Bishop v. Piller, 536 Pa. 41, 637 A.2d 976, 978-79 (1994) (internal footnote omitted). As ably recognized by one of our sister states: Moreover, the importance of the grandparent-grandchild relationship in the lives of children has been confirmed. See [Chrystal C. Ramirez Barranti, The Grandparent/Grandchild Relationship: Family Resource in an Era of Voluntary Bonds, 34 Family Relations 343,] 346-47 [(1985)] (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. Commentators have suggested that, in the absence of a grandparent/grandchild relationship, children experience a deprivation of nurturance, support, and emotional security. 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. 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. Moriarty v. Bradt, 177 N.J. 84, 827 A.2d 203, 210-11 (2003) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted). Indeed, the decisional law makes it clear that such a benefit is not limited to the parent-child nuclear family. For example, in Moore v. City of East Cleveland, 431 U.S. 494, 97 S.Ct. 1932, 52 L.Ed.2d 531 (1977), the Supreme Court invalidated an ordinance limiting occupancy in a dwelling to certain members of a family unit as it applied to a grandmother living in her home with her two grandsons, who were cousins and not siblings. In his plurality opinion, Justice Powell argued that the Yoder, Meyer, and Pierce line of cases applied to extended family relationships, even though those decisions had not involved such associations. Extolling the virtues of the extended family, Justice Powell stated: [M]illions of our citizens have grown up in just such an environment, and most, surely, have profited from it. Even . . . a decline in extended family households. . . [has] not erased the accumulated wisdom of civilization, gained over the centuries and honored throughout our history, that supports a larger conception of the family. Out of choice, necessity, or a sense of family responsibility, it has been common for close relatives to draw together and participate in the duties and the satisfactions of a common home . . . . Especially in times of adversity, such as the death of a spouse or economic need, the broader family has tended to come together for mutual sustenance and to maintain or rebuild a secure home life. Id. at 504-05, 97 S.Ct. 1932. In Commonwealth ex rel. Spriggs v. Carson, 470 Pa. 290, 368 A.2d 635, 640 (1977), where we overruled the tender years presumption that custody should be awarded to mothers rather than fathers, we stated: Courts should be wary of deciding matters as sensitive as questions of custody by the invocation of `presumptions'. Instead, we believe that [our] courts should inquire into the circumstances and relationships of all the parties involved and reach a determination based solely upon the facts of the case then before the Court. I believe that the same reasoning should apply where the custody dispute is between parents and third parties. The General Assembly has directed the focus of the grandparent custody and visitation statute to the fundamental right of the best interests of the child. The courts of the Commonwealth have routinely focused on the best interests of the child in custody and visitation cases, while still recognizing the fundamental right of parents to raise the child. See Bishop ; Ellerbe v. Hooks, 490 Pa. 363, 416 A.2d 512 (1980); Zaffarano ; Miller v. Miller, 329 Pa.Super. 248, 478 A.2d 451 (1984); etc. Pursuant to the Pennsylvania Constitution, the child has a fundamental right to have his or her best interests considered. In balancing the fundamental rights of parents and children, there is no single overriding factor; rather, courts should consider every fact relevant to the physical, emotional, intellectual, moral, and spiritual well-being of a child. Parenthood, though not paramount, will always be a factor of significant weight.