Opinion ID: 1305374
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Narrowly Tailored Statute.

Text: Even if our statute is interpreted to identify a compelling interest of the state, the three requirements utilized by the statute to permit grandparent visitation to take place over the objection of a parent fail to impose the essential limitations demanded by Troxel to narrowly serve the compelling interest to intervene and to safeguard against unwarranted intrusions into the decisions of fit parents. Thus, for the same reasons identified in Santi, the statute fails to comport with the Due Process Clause on its face. The most critical deficiency in the statute is, as we observed in Santi, its failure to require a finding of parental unfitness. Troxel made it clear that when a forum has been created for a court to consider grandparent visitation, the judge must presume a fit parent acts in the best interests of their children, and so long as a parent adequately cares for his or her children ( i.e., is fit), there will normally be no reason for the state to inject itself into the private realm of the family to further question the ability of that parent to make the best decisions concerning the rearing of that parent's children. Troxel, 530 U.S. at 68-69, 120 S.Ct. at 2061, 147 L.Ed.2d at 58. This presumption is not simply applicable to joint decisions of fit married parents, but applies to the decisions of all fit parents. [5] See Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 651-53, 92 S.Ct. 1208, 1212-13, 31 L.Ed.2d 551, 558-59 (1972) (state may not presume parental unfitness and interfere with unwed father's custody rights absent proof of unfitness). It is parental fitness that gives rise to the presumption, not mere marital status. Divorce does not diminish the parent's fundamental interest in parenting and does not make them less capable parents. Thus, the divorce requirement under section 598.35(1) does not eliminate the need for the parents to be granted the presumption of fitness. See Roth, 789 A.2d at 449 (statute permitting visitation after a disruption of the family unit provides inadequate protection for the parental interest). The failure of the statute to give the presumption of fitness to parents renders it unconstitutional on its face. Santi, 633 N.W.2d at 321. Moreover, the other two requirements of section 598.35(1) do not require or even contemplate that the presumption be utilized. The best interest standard is a doctrine that embraces the interests of children, and we have never interpreted it to protect the fundamental parenting interest or to provide a presumption for fit parents. Similarly, the grandparent-grandchild relationship requirement does not address the presumption that fit parents make decisions that benefit their children. There is nothing in either requirement that mandates the judge to give special weight to the parents' decision. See Troxel, 530 U.S. at 70, 120 S.Ct. at 2062, 147 L.Ed.2d at 59. Accordingly, the statute on its face not only fails to recognize the degree of harm or potential harm to the child needed to support state intervention, but it fails to require a threshold finding of parental unfitness. Santi, 633 N.W.2d at 321. It also fails to require the court to consider a parent's objections to allowing visitation. We believe these provisions must be a part of any grandparent visitation statute under our Due Process Clause.