Opinion ID: 2976065
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Fundamental Right of Child Rearing

Text: Plaintiffs claim a “parent’s right to the orderly rearing and education of her child is afforded constitutional protection.” Indeed, parents have a liberty interest in the care, custody, and control of their children. Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 65 (2000); see also Pierce v. Soc’y of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510, 535 (1925) (Fourteenth Amendment prevents “unreasonably interfer[ing] with the liberty of parents and guardians to direct the upbringing and education of children under their control.”); Barrett v. Steubenville City Schools, 388 F.3d 967, 972 (6th Cir. 2004) (noting the fundamental right of parents to raise their child has been clearly established); Johnson v. City of Cincinnati, 310 F.3d 484, 499 (6th Cir. 2002) (“[A] family member’s right to participate in child rearing and education is one of the most basic and important associational rights protected by the Constitution.”). Evans’s actions against Plaintiffs did not violate their fundamental rights. Mulkey was subjected to an interview and Jenkins was subject to an investigation and court complaint. But neither was deprived of her child. Neither lost care, custody, or control of her child nor the right to raise her child. At most, they were victims of something resembling malicious prosecution or defamation, neither of which are cognizable as constitutional violations of privacy. Albright v. Oliver, 510 U.S. 266, 271 n.4 (1994); Paul v. Davis, 424 U.S. 693, 702 (1976). There are cases in other circuits finding that parents who lost custody of their children because of malicious, false reports suffered constitutional violations. Brokaw, 235 F.3d at 1018-19; Morris v. Dearborne, 181 F.3d 657, 667 (5th Cir. 1999); Gedrich v. Fairfax County Dep’t of Family Servs., 282 F. Supp. 2d 439, 461 (E.D. Va. 2003). Here, however, there was no separation. There is no constitutional violation in merely being subjected to a false report. See also Croft v. Westmoreland County Children & Youth Servs., 103 F.3d 1123, 1125 (3d Cir. 1997) (holding that a “child abuse investigation does not, in and of itself, constitute a constitutional deprivation”).