Opinion ID: 2386399
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The trial court's order regarding visitation

Text: The legal principle fashioned by this Court in In re Justin D., 357 Md. 431, 745 A.2d 408, (2000), was that a trial court may not delegate judicial authority to determine the visitation rights of parents to a non-judicial agency or person. Id. at 447, 745 A.2d at 417. While determinations concerning visitation are generally within the sound discretion of the trial court, see Beckman v. Boggs, 337 Md. 688, 703, 655 A.2d 901, 908 (1995), not to be disturbed unless there has been a clear abuse of discretion, see Petrini v. Petrini, 336 Md. 453, 470, 648 A.2d 1016, 1023 (1994), where a trial court's order constitutes an improper delegation of judicial authority to a non-judicial agency or person, the trial court has committed an error of law, to be reviewed by appellate courts de novo. See Register of Wills for Baltimore County v. Arrowsmith, 365 Md. 237, 778 A.2d 364 (2001)(stating that consistent with review for all questions of law, the Court of Appeals of Maryland reviews the order and judgment de novo ). In the case sub judice, we hold that the trial court's order constituted an improper delegation of judicial authority to the child's therapist, and thus was legally incorrect. A parent's interest in raising a child is, no doubt, a fundamental right, recognized by the United States Supreme Court and this Court. The United States Supreme Court has long avowed the basic civil right encompassed by child rearing and family life. See Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 66, 120 S.Ct. 2054, 2060, 147 L.Ed.2d 49, 57 (2000)(stating that the Fourteenth Amendment protects the fundamental right of parents to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children); See also Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 753, 102 S.Ct. 1388, 1394-95, 71 L.Ed.2d 599, 606 (1982) (discussing the fundamental liberty interest of natural parents in the care, custody, and management of their child); Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 651, 92 S.Ct. 1208, 1212-13, 31 L.Ed.2d 551, 558-59 (1972)(stating that [t]he rights to conceive and to raise one's children have been deemed `essential,' and that [t]he integrity of the family unit has found protection in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment ... the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment... and the Ninth Amendment ... (internal citations omitted)). Maryland, too, has declared a parent's interest in raising a child to be so fundamental that it cannot be taken away unless clearly justified. Boswell v. Boswell, 352 Md. 204, 218, 721 A.2d 662, 669 (1998) (citing In re Adoption No. 10941, 335 Md. 99, 112, 642 A.2d 201 (1994)). That fundamental interest, however, is not absolute and does not exclude other important considerations. Pursuant to the doctrine of parens patriae, the State of Maryland has an interest in caring for those, such as minors, who cannot care for themselves. See Boswell, 352 Md. at 218-19, 721 A.2d at 669. We have held that the best interests of the child may take precedence over the parent's liberty interest in the course of a custody, visitation, or adoption dispute. Boswell, 352 Md. at 219, 721 A.2d at 669; see also In re Adoption No. 10941, 335 Md. at 113, 642 A.2d at 208 (stating that the controlling factor ... is ... what best serves the interest of the child). That which will best promote the child's welfare becomes particularly consequential where the interests of a child are in jeopardy, as is often the case in situations involving sexual, physical, or emotional abuse by a parent. As we stated in In re Adoption/Guardianship No. A91-71A, 334 Md. 538, 640 A.2d 1085 (1994), the child's welfare is a consideration that is of `transcendent importance' when the child might otherwise be in jeopardy. Id. at 561, 640 A.2d at 1096 (citation omitted). Therefore, visitation may be restricted or even denied when the child's health or welfare is threatened. We have recognized that in cases where abuse or neglect is evidenced, particularly in a CINA case, the court's role is necessarily more pro-active. See In re Justin D., 357 Md. at 448, 745 A.2d at 417. In fact, whereas the standard for denying parental visitation is generally quite stricti.e. it would only be in an exceptional case and under extraordinary circumstances that the right of visitation will be denied Shapiro v. Shapiro, 54 Md.App. 477, 482, 458 A.2d 1257, 1260 (1983)(citing Radford v. Matczuk, 223 Md. 483, 164 A.2d 904 (1960)); see Boswell v. Boswell, 352 Md. at 220, 721 A.2d at 670 (1998)(stating that [v]isitation rights ... are not to be denied even to an errant parent unless the best interest of the child would be endangered by such contact) (quoting Roberts v. Roberts, 35 Md.App. 497, 507, 371 A.2d 689, 694 (1977))in cases where evidence of abuse exists, courts are required by statute to deny custody or unsupervised visitation unless the court makes a specific finding that there is no likelihood of further child abuse or neglect. See Maryland Code, § 9-101 of the Family Law Article (1984, 1999 Repl.Vol.). Thus, courts have a higher degree of responsibility where abuse is proven. A trial court, acting under the State's parens patriae authority, is in the unique position to marshal the applicable facts, assess the situation, and determine the correct means of fulfilling a child's best interests. In the case before us, the trial court took great care in considering the evidence of the abuse of young Mark M., the status of Mark M.'s emotional recovery (as testified to by both Mark M.'s guardian and therapist), the failure of petitioner to comply with prior court orders and her apparent unwillingness to satisfy those orders still in effect. After weighing these factors, the lower court found that visitation by the petitioner would be against the child's best interests, explaining that Mark M. was in an extremely vulnerable position with a substantial likelihood of regression from his recovery to date should he have contact with his mother. We do not dispute the lower court's findings, per se, nor do we dispute the court's determination to deny the motion to enforce visitation. The court's further order, howeverthat [v]isitation will not occur until his therapist recommends it,is both facially over-broad and legally incorrect as it constitutes an improper delegation of authority to the therapist to determine whether additional visitation could occur before the court's regular review of the case (six months hence) [5] or upon earlier motion. For this reason, we enter judgment to vacate the court's ruling. The Maryland legislature established very particular guidelines for juvenile courts when determining parental visitation rights in circumstances where child abuse or neglect has been demonstrated. Section 9-101 of the Family Law Article states: (a) Determination by court. In any custody or visitation proceeding, if the court has reasonable grounds to believe that a child has been abused or neglected by a party to the proceeding, the court shall determine whether abuse or neglect is likely to occur if custody or visitation rights are granted to the party. (b) Specific finding required. Unless the court specifically finds that there is no likelihood of further child abuse or neglect by the party, the court shall deny custody or visitation rights to that party, except that the court may approve a supervised visitation arrangement that assures the safety and the physiological, psychological, and emotional well-being of the child. Therefore, when a court has reasonable grounds to believe that abuse has occurred, as did the juvenile court in this case, visitation must be denied unless that court specifically finds that there is no likelihood of further abuse or neglect. In cases where prior abuse is evidenced, the statutory mandate is that the court make this specific finding. The court cannot delegate this determination to a non-judicial agency or an independent party. In the case presently before us, the juvenile court's denial of visitation was a proper exercise of its discretion; its declaration that visitation will not occur until his therapist recommends it, however, was an improper delegation of its specific statutory obligation to make the requisite finding prior to granting visitation. See In re Justin D., 357 Md. at 447, 745 A.2d at 417 (noting that jurisdiction over visitation disputes resides solely with courts of equity and there is no authority for the delegation of any portion of such jurisdiction...)(quoting Shapiro v. Shapiro, 54 Md. App. at 484, 458 A.2d at 1262). The Court of Special Appeals was correct to highlight the principle we articulated in In re Justin D., i.e. that it would be an improper delegation of judicial authority to allow the Department to determine the minimal level of access to a child, (greater than nil) but that it would not be improper to allow the Department to allow a greater level of access to a child once the minimal level was established by the court. See In re Justin D., 357 Md. at 449-450, 745 A.2d at 418. It relies on the following language in In re Justin D. which states: [T]he court may not delegate its responsibility to determine the minimal level of appropriate contact between the child and his or her parent or other guardian, and, except to respond to a true and immediate emergency, it may not permit DSS to curtail, or make more onerous, the visitation allowed in the court order... It must determine, and set forth in its order, at least the minimal amount of visitation that is appropriate and that DSS must provide, as well as any basic conditions that it believes, as a minimum, should be imposed. Beyond that, it is not inappropriate for the court to permit DSS, with the concurrence of the parent, to determine whether additional visitation or less restrictive conditions on visitation are in order .... the court may properly leave to DSS the ability to afford a parent greater or less restrictive access than the order directs. Id. at 449-450, 745 A.2d at 418 (internal citations omitted) (emphasis in original). The Court of Special Appeals failed to recognize, however, that this principle coexists with the statutory guidelines of Section 9-101. In cases of prior abuse or neglect, a court has an additional statutory obligation to make a specific finding of no likelihood of further child abuse or neglect prior to sanctioning visitation beyond nil. See Maryland Code, § 9-101(b) of the Family Law Article. Therefore, once denial of visitation is deemed appropriate, the only method of supplying the parent with additional visitation is through a subsequent court proceeding where such a finding is made. It is the province of the court, not the province of the therapist, to determine when or whether visitation is appropriate. [6] While [t]he court is entitled to rely on expert opinion in making a decision, ... the decision must be that of the court, not the expert. In re Justin D, 357 Md. at 447, 745 A.2d at 417. Vesting the therapist in this case with complete discretion to deny or permit visitation by the petitioner constitutes an improper delegation. Petitioner also contends that the court's denial of visitation until such time as the therapist recommends was, in effect, a total denial of access for an indefinite period, and such denial was wrong on the merits. Upon review of the record, we cannot agree. As we previously mentioned, it is not the court's findings (i.e. that visitation by the appellant would adversely affect Mark M.) with which we disagree, but rather we find error in the method by which the court chose to administer and implement those findings. The court's findings must be clearly reflected in the court's order, see In re Justin D., 357 Md. at 450, 745 A.2d at 418, and must demonstrate the exercise of the court's own discretion, not that of a third party. Therefore, we order the judgment of the trial court vacated.