Opinion ID: 412637
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Liberty Interest in Favor of a Custodial Relative

Text: 37 The Supreme Court has frequently reaffirmed that  'freedom of personal choice in matters of ... family life is one of the liberties protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.' Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur, 414 U.S. 632, 639-40 [94 S.Ct. 791, 796, 39 L.Ed.2d 52] (1974). Smith v. OFFER, 431 U.S. at 842, 97 S.Ct. at 2108. While this principle is largely undisputed, 10 there is some disagreement over what precisely constitutes a family for purposes of due process. The parent-child relationship, whether natural or formalized through adoption, properly forms the core of the constitutional notion of family. The courts have extended procedural due process protection to this relationship. See Smith v. OFFER, 431 U.S. at 842 & n. 47, 97 S.Ct. at 2108 & n. 47; Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 651, 92 S.Ct. 1208, 1212, 31 L.Ed.2d 551 (1972); Armstrong v. Manzo, 380 U.S. 545, 85 S.Ct. 1187, 14 L.Ed.2d 62 (1965); May v. Anderson, 345 U.S. 528, 73 S.Ct. 840, 97 L.Ed. 1221 (1953). The constitutional conception of family has evolved, however, to include relationships among members of what has commonly become known as the extended family. See Moore v. City of East Cleveland, 431 U.S. at 496-506, 97 S.Ct. at 1934-1939 (a grandmother and her two grandsons); Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158, 166, 64 S.Ct. 438, 442, 88 L.Ed. 645 (1944) (an aunt and legal guardian of her niece). The courts have focused principally on the biological relationship between the parties when extending due process protection to persons not specifically fitting the parent-child mold. Compare Moore v. City of East Cleveland, 431 U.S. at 498-99, 97 S.Ct. at 1934-1935; with Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, 416 U.S. 1, 9, 94 S.Ct. 1536, 1541, 39 L.Ed.2d 797 (1974). 38 In Moore, the City of East Cleveland adopted a land use regulation that prohibited a grandmother from living with two grandsons from different lineal branches of her family. 11 The city defended this ordinance by arguing that restrictive limitations on occupancy of city dwellings were necessary to prevent overcrowding, minimize traffic and parking congestion, and to alleviate the financial burdens on East Cleveland's school system. The city also asserted that the Due Process Clause was not designed to protect the interests asserted by Mrs. Moore. Counsel for East Cleveland contended that the notion of family should be limited, for purposes of due process, to the nuclear family and should not be extended to include relationships such as the one presented by Mrs. Moore and her grandchildren. 39 The Supreme Court summarily and convincingly rejected this restrictive conception of family: 40 Ours is by no means a tradition limited to respect for the bonds uniting the members of the nuclear family. The tradition of uncles, aunts, cousins, and especially grandparents sharing a household along with parents and children has roots equally venerable and equally deserving of constitutional recognition. Over the years millions of our citizens have grown up in just such an environment, and most, surely, have profited from it. Even if conditions of modern society have brought about a decline in extended family households, they have 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. Decisions concerning child rearing, which Yoder, Meyer, Pierce and other cases have recognized as entitled to constitutional protection, long have been shared with grandparents or other relatives who occupy the same household--indeed who may take on major responsibility for the rearing of the children. 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. This is apparently what happened here. 41 431 U.S. at 504-05, 97 S.Ct. at 1938 (footnotes omitted). 42 The State of Connecticut concedes that biological relationships are important under due process analysis. The state argues, however, that the Court should view Mrs. Rivera's status in this action not as a half-sister to the Ross children, but rather as a foster parent whose rights were carefully circumscribed by the foster care agreement. The appellant urges us to adopt the view of the three federal courts that have denied to foster parents a constitutionally cognizable interest in the maintenance of the foster relationship. See Kyees v. County Department of Public Welfare, 600 F.2d 693, 695 (7th Cir.1979) (per curiam); Drummond v. Fulton County Department of Family and Children's Services, 563 F.2d 1200, 1207 (5th Cir.1977) (en banc), cert. denied, 437 U.S. 910, 98 S.Ct. 3103, 57 L.Ed.2d 1141 (1978); Sherrard v. Owens, 484 F.Supp. 728 (W.D.Mich.1980), aff'd, 644 F.2d 542 (6th Cir.) (per curiam), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 823, 102 S.Ct. 120, 70 L.Ed.2d 103 (1981). Each of these cases was decided in the wake of, and relied principally on, the Supreme Court's decision in Smith v. OFFER, 431 U.S. 816, 97 S.Ct. 2094, 53 L.Ed.2d 14 (1977). 43 In OFFER, the plaintiff class was comprised of long term foster parents residing in New York. They argued that when a child has lived in a foster home for one year or more, important psychological and familial ties are created between the foster parent and child. The plaintiff class cited this natural progression in the foster relationship and urged the Court to recognize that foster parents possess a liberty interest in the survival of the long term foster family sufficient to invoke the protections of the Due Process Clause. Id. at 839, 97 S.Ct. at 2106. 44 The OFFER Court carefully considered this argument and suggested in dicta that long term foster parents may be entitled to some due process protection in light of the relationships developed through mutual care and support: 45 No one would seriously dispute that a deeply loving and interdependent relationship between an adult and a child in his or her care may exist even in the absence of blood relationship. At least where a child has been placed in foster care as an infant, has never known his natural parents, and has remained continuously for several years in the care of the same foster parents, it is natural that the foster family should hold the same place in the emotional life of the foster child, and fulfill the same socializing functions, as a natural family. 46 Id. at 844, 97 S.Ct. at 2109 (footnote omitted). The Court identified, however, three important differences between the typical foster family and the natural family. First, there is generally no biological relationship between foster parents and the children in their care. Moreover, while the natural family has its origins separate and apart from state law, the source of the foster family relationship is contractual in nature and is carefully circumscribed by the state in the foster care agreement. Finally, there is a virtually unavoidable tension between protecting the liberty interests of the natural parents while also extending familial rights in favor of foster parents. 47 The Court reviewed these factors and noted that the claims of the plaintiff class raised complex and novel questions of constitutional law. Id. at 847, 97 S.Ct. at 2111. The Court explained, however, that it was unnecessary to resolve these issues because even if it were to assume that foster parents have a protected liberty interest, the procedures adopted by the State of New York were constitutionally adequate. Id. Courts in the wake of OFFER have relied on the three distinguishing factors cited in that decision to support their ruling that foster parents do not possess a constitutionally protected liberty interest in the maintenance of the foster family relationship. See Kyees v. County Department of Public Welfare, 600 F.2d 693, 695 (7th Cir.1979) (per curiam); Drummond v. Fulton County Department of Family and Children's Services, 563 F.2d 1200, 1207 (5th Cir.1977) (en banc), cert. denied, 437 U.S. 910, 98 S.Ct. 3103, 57 L.Ed.2d 1141 (1978); Sherrard v. Owens, 484 F.Supp. 728 (W.D.Mich.1980), aff'd, 644 F.2d 542 (6th Cir.) (per curiam), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 823, 102 S.Ct. 120, 70 L.Ed.2d 103 (1981). 48 This action is quite different, however, from the typical foster removal case. None of the factors weighing against the finding of a liberty interest in favor of foster parents is present in this case. Mrs. Rivera is related biologically to the Ross children. They lived together as a family for several years before the foster care agreement was consummated. Finally, there is not the potential for conflict with the rights of the natural parents of the Ross children. The natural father has shown no interest in the children in more than twelve years. Mrs. Ross expressly asked Mrs. Rivera to care for her children and, in light of Mrs. Ross' deteriorating mental condition, there is very little likelihood that she will ever leave the institution she entered in 1972. 49 In these circumstances, we find that Mrs. Rivera possesses an important liberty interest in preserving the integrity and stability of her family. 12 We believe that custodial relatives like Mrs. Rivera are entitled to due process protections when the state decides to remove a dependent relative from the family environment. Indeed, we find no legally principled distinction between Mrs. Moore's rights in East Cleveland and Mrs. Rivera's in Hartford. Although separated by several hundred miles, both women carried on the laudable American tradition of providing food, shelter and comfort for members of their respective extended families in times of adversity. Justice Powell's observations in Moore v. City of East Cleveland bear repeating: 50 Ours is by no means a tradition limited to respect for the bonds uniting the members of the nuclear family. The tradition of uncles, aunts, cousins, and especially grandparents sharing a household along with parents and children has roots equally venerable and equally deserving of constitutional recognition.... 51 Whether or not such a household is established because of personal tragedy, the choice of relatives in this degree of kinship to live together may not lightly be denied by the State. 52 431 U.S. at 504-06, 97 S.Ct. at 1938-1939 (footnote omitted). 53 Our ruling today is not in conflict with those recent decisions that reject the due process claims of foster parents. In Kyees v. County Department of Public Welfare, the court prefaced its holding by explaining that: 54 It has long been clear that there exists a private realm of family life which the state cannot enter. Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158, 166, 64 S.Ct. 438, 442, 88 L.Ed. 645 (1944). But it has not always been clear what constitutes a family. Certainly, where a biological relationship exists, the power of the state to regulate activity is limited. See e.g., Moore v. City of East Cleveland, 431 U.S. 494, 97 S.Ct. 1932, 52 L.Ed.2d 531 (1977); Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 92 S.Ct. 1208, 31 L.Ed.2d 551 (1972); Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur, 414 U.S. 632, 94 S.Ct. 791, 39 L.Ed.2d 52 (1974); Drollinger v. Milligan, 522 F.2d 1220 (7th Cir.1977). 55