Opinion ID: 1879539
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Post-Separation Family Violence Relief Act

Text: The purpose of the Post-Separation Family Violence Relief Act, enacted by La. Acts 1992, No. 1091, is to protect children and the abused spouse in a family with a history of family violence from continuation of abuse during periods of child custody and visitation. La.Rev.Stat. 9:361. The portion of the Act under consideration here is La. Rev.Stat. 9:364 D, which requires a court, upon a finding that a parent has sexually abused his or her child, to terminate any visitation or even contact between the abusive parent and the child. [6] After such a finding, the parent can only regain the right to supervised visitation by successfully completing a treatment program designed for such sexual abusers and thereafter convincing the court that supervised visitation is in the child's best interest, and arguably may never be able to regain custody or unsupervised visitation. Subsection 364 D does not expressly require a standard of proof greater than a preponderance of the evidence as a basis for mandatory termination of an allegedly abusive parent's visitation rights. Therein lies a constitutional flaw in Subsection 364 D. A balancing of the factors outlined in Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 96 S.Ct. 893, 47 L.Ed.2d 18 (1976), for determining the process that is due in a particular hearing requires the application of a standard of proof by clear and convincing evidence at the factfinding hearing in order to satisfy procedural due process.