Opinion ID: 1914980
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Constitutional Underpinnings of Parental Rights

Text: ¶15. Brendan has asserted that the genetic test results, when combined with his visits with Selena until she was fifteen months old, give him a substantive due process liberty interest in his putative status as Selena's father. The circuit court found that Brendan did not support Selena emotionally or financially; that occasionally buying formula and diapers was insufficient to show his assumption of parental responsibility, as was his failure to assert parental rights either at her birth or at the court hearing in October of 1999 when all of this could have been addressed. Based on these findings, the circuit court concluded Brendan did not have a constitutionally protected interest in his putative paternity. Accordingly, we begin with a review of the jurisprudence bearing on the protections that may be afforded Brendan's putative parental rights. ¶16. A parent has a constitutionally protected liberty interest in the companionship, care, custody, and management of his or her children. Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 651 (1972). However, parental status that rises to the level of a constitutionally protected liberty interest does not rest solely on biological factors, but rather, is dependant upon an actual relationship with the child where the parent assumes responsibility for the child's emotional and financial needs. See W.W.W., 161 Wis. 2d at 1031-32. As the Supreme Court has explained, the paramount interest is in the welfare of children so that the rights of the parents are a counterpart of the responsibilities they have assumed. Lehr v. Robertson, 463 U.S. 248, 257 (1983). As Justice Stewart observed in Caban v. Mohammed, 441 U.S. 380 (1979): Parental rights do not spring full-blown from the biological connection between parent and child. They require relationships more enduring. Id. at 397 (J. Stewart, dissenting). [4] ¶17. In W.W.W., in addition to the requisite parental relationship, we also examined the principles of Michael H. v. Gerald D., 491 U.S. 110 (1989), as they relate to the status of a child born during a lawful marriage when a man who is not the husband of the mother claims paternity. W.W.W., 161 Wis. 2d at 1029-30. Michael H.'s plurality explained that an important factor in assessing the strength of the putative father's claim to parental rights was whether his relationship to the child was historically protected. Michael H. 491 U.S. at 123. [5] In recognition of the separate interest of the child that was at issue, Michael H. explained that a child's position in a lawful marriage warranted protection because it rests upon the historic respectindeed, sanctity would not be too strong a termtraditionally accorded to the relationships that develop within the unitary family. Id. Additionally, the presumption of legitimacy is a fundamental principle of common law that courts are reluctant to overturn. Michael H., 491 U.S. at 124. In this case, as Brendan seeks to establish rights for himself, his efforts could change Selena's status as a marital child thereby undermining that principle. [6] ¶18. While we did not adopt the plurality's position in regard to the necessity of showing that the relationship between the child and the putative father is one that has had historic protection, we examined it carefully. W.W.W., 161 Wis. 2d at 1027-29. We chose not to decide whether that second factor must be fulfilled because W.W.W. did not have a significant relationship with the children, C.A.S. and C.D.S., making it unnecessary to reach all of the principles of Michael H.'s plurality opinion. [7] W.W.W., 161 Wis. 2d at 1031 n.14. However, we did conclude that W.W.W.'s relationship to C.A.S. and C.D.S. was not historically protected. Id. at 1029-30. Furthermore, when determining the level of relationship that is necessary before a putative father may assert parental rights of a constitutional dimension, we returned to the direction given by the Supreme Court in Stanley [8] and Caban, [9] where the Supreme Court's decisions were driven by the actual responsibility for the child the father had assumed. W.W.W., 161 Wis. 2d at 1031 n.14. ¶19. Therefore, in order for Brendan to have the necessary foundation for a constitutionally protected liberty interest in his putative paternity, he would have to have taken affirmative steps to assume his parental responsibilities for Selena. In regard to his relationship with Selena, the circuit court found that Brendan had no substantial relationship with Selena, who is six years old and has lived with Randy as her father all her life. Brendan is not listed as her father on her birth certificate; he was not present at her birth; [10] he did not pay for her birthing expenses; he took no legal steps to assert his paternity until she was fifteen months old when he filed a paternity action in Illinois. When that action was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, he chose not to proceed in this Wisconsin court action until it had been ongoing for more than two years. And finally, he did not provide for Selena's emotional and financial support, either before or after the genetic tests were performed. Therefore, we conclude that the record fully supports the circuit court's finding. ¶20. In many ways, Brendan's position is similar to the man who was admitted to be the natural father in Lehr. There, the significance of the biological connection was not sufficient to accord a constitutional dimension to Lehr's claim of parenthood because Lehr had not assumed parental responsibility for the child and he was attempting to obtain an opportunity for parentage that conflicted with a similar opportunity for the husband of the child's mother. Lehr, 463 U.S. at 262. Additionally, as the Supreme Court further explained in Michael H., a limit is imposed when the mother is, at the time of the child's conception and birth, married to, and cohabitating with, another man, both of whom wish to raise the child as the offspring of their union. Michael H., 491 U.S. at 129. Here, Randy and Norma lived together as husband and wife when Selena was born. Randy has provided for Selena since her birth, emotionally and financially. He has made a home for her and provided her with the status of a marital child for six years, while Brendan has been uninvolved in providing for her daily needs. Accordingly, we conclude that Brendan has not demonstrated a constitutionally protected liberty interest in his putative paternity because he has failed to establish a substantial relationship with Selena.