Opinion ID: 1060895
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: In the Matter of Sean Michael Crawford

Text: Mary Ann Crawford and Ronald Sean Crawford were married in July 1988. In early 1991, during a period in which the Crawfords were separated, Mary Crawford and the petitioner, Thomas Cihlar, had a romantic relationship; Cihlar asserts that Crawford lived with him for approximately four months, during which time she became pregnant. Crawford later reunited with her husband. On November 29, 1991, Crawford gave birth to a son, Sean Michael Crawford. Two and one-half years later, on July 26, 1994, Cihlar filed a petition to legitimate the child alleging that he is the father of Sean; that he has at all times acknowledged his paternity; that since the child's birth, he has exercised weekly visitation with him; and that he has paid child support to Crawford. In December 1994, after the Crawfords filed a response to Cihlar's petition, the trial court entered an agreed order granting Cihlar's petition, establishing a visitation schedule and setting child support. In January 1995, after Cihlar filed a petition seeking custody of Sean, the Crawfords moved to vacate the agreed order. The trial court granted the motion to vacate the agreed order except for the provisions relating to visitation; the court also ordered that the Crawfords re-pay Cihlar all the child support he had paid and to pay his attorney's fees. In March 1995, the Crawfords filed a motion to dismiss the legitimation petition on the ground that the legitimation statute, Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-2-202 did not apply because the phrase not born in lawful wedlock did not apply to Sean. They also asserted that Cihlar had no standing to bring the legitimation action. Cihlar opposed the motion and gave notice to the attorney general that he intended to challenge the constitutionality of Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-2-202. The trial court entered an order finding that the statute was not facially unconstitutional under either the state or federal Constitutions. After conducting an evidentiary hearing, however, the trial court denied the motion to dismiss. The trial court explained its ruling, stating that [i]t would be a mockery to the concept of marriage to describe the erratic relationship of Mary Ann and Ronald Crawford as being `lawful wedlock'. The Court of Appeals reversed.