Court Opinion

ID: 9624464
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 07:03:35.020222+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:47.045979
License: Public Domain

*800JOHNSON, J.,
dissenting.
I agree with the majority’s statement of the facts but cannot accept the implications drawn therefrom. The ray of hope on which the majority relies is the testimony of Hillcrest officials that during the two-to-four-month period prior to the hearing, the mother had demonstrated improvement in her behavioral patterns and self-control. I view this testimony as only indicating that she has somewhat adjusted to institutional supervision, not as demonstrating that her attitude has changed or that she is fit to be a parent.
At the time the child was born the mother was patently unfit. Instead of terminating parental rights then, the state attempted to rehabilitate. The effort has not been successful. The mother subsequently committed violent acts against others, engaged in prostitution and demonstrated no interest in self-improvement. Her attitude toward the child at best reflects an affection for an object rather than a person. She is diagnosed by a psychiatrist and a psychologist as an anti-social personality who is likely to abuse her child. The two juvenile caseworkers who supervised the mother have recommended, based upon their close association with her, that parental rights be terminated. The trial court had an opportunity to observe these witnesses and also the mother who testified on her own behalf. The trial court obviously did not find her credible. The record indicates that the mother continues to be unfit.
The majority in one breath says the mother should have another "opportunity to prove herself as a mother and to raise her own child.” In the next breath it backs away from that proposition and suggests instead that the child be retained in foster care, or in custody of the mother under close supervision. The reasonable expectation is that the trial court will elect continued foster care because the trial court expressed considerable skepticism concerning the mother’s proposed living arrangements when she is released from Hillcrest. The *801latter suggestion also presupposes the availability of social resources which may not exist. In the majority’s zeal to protect the mother’s interests it has subordinated the interests of the child. The possibility that this mother will ever become fit and be able to integrate the child into her home is at best remote. The probability is that in the meantime the child’s life will be irretrievably ruined.
I respectfully dissent.
Schwab, C. J., and Tanzer and Lee, JJ., join in this dissenting opinion.