Opinion ID: 4550285
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: In re J.P.

Text: ¶175 The same goes for our case law. Utah Supreme Court precedent has come nowhere close to endorsing the right 78 Cite as: 2020 UT 51 Lee, A.C.J., dissenting established by the court today. And in fact, our cases chart a burden for establishing a substantive due process right that the mother in this case has not carried. ¶176 In In re J.P. we emphasized the importance of framing substantive due process rights narrowly and embedding the analysis in premises that are “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition” and in the “history and culture of Western civilization.” 648 P.2d at 1375 (citations omitted). We warned of the perils of “innovations” in substantive due process extensions premised on “undisciplined . . . abstract formulae.” Id. (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). And with this concern in mind, we framed the substantive due process in precise, specific terms. We did not frame the inquiry at a high level of generality by simply stating that a parent has a vague right that is “fundamental,” and proceed from that sweeping premise to our own formulation of the appropriate nature and extent of that right. Instead we recognized a narrow, specific right—the “right of a parent not to be deprived of parental rights without a showing of unfitness, abandonment, or substantial neglect.” Id. And we based that conclusion not on our own sense of the policies supporting this sort of right, but on the fact that firmly rooted “history” and longstanding tradition of the “common law” had established such a right. Id. ¶177 Our framing of the analysis in J.P. is significant. We based our determination of a substantive due process right on longstanding history and tradition. And we framed the recognized right at a highly specific level. We came nowhere close to employing substantive due process in a manner giving a parent a substantive right to avoid a default resulting from the failure to follow procedures required by law. ¶178 The J.P. framework requires proof of established history and tradition at a precise level of specificity. It is not enough to assert generally that a mother’s parental rights are fundamental. To succeed under J.P., the mother would have to present evidence of an established history and tradition of a right of mothers “not to be deprived of parental rights despite failure to comply with procedure afforded to allow the mother to assert her interests.” And the mother here has made no such showing, as I explain further below.