Court Opinion

ID: 9654273
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 18:12:21.488221+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:07.504633
License: Public Domain

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING
Appellee Rains asserts in her motion for rehearing that this Court has erred in giving full faith and credit to the Arkansas decree and in holding that the Arkansas guardianship decree was superior to the pri- or Texas judgment which awarded custody of the minor child to appellee. We have reexamined those issues and are persuaded that our original opinion was correct. However, we again reiterate and strongly point out that this Court has not been called upon to review questions involving the best interest of the child or who is best fit to have custody of the minor child. Those are questions which have been litigated prior to the institution of the habeas corpus proceeding and are matters which may be subject to relitigation in the trial court upon a showing of a substantial change in conditions. We want it made abundantly clear that this Court has not decided that Linda Joyce Rains is incapable of caring for her minor child. That question has not been raised or presented to this Court for review. Many handicapped people are capable of providing adequate care for their minor children as noted in the recent case of In Re Marriage Of Carney, 24 Cal.3d 725, 157 Cal.Rptr. 383, 598 P.2d 36 (1979). In an excellent opinion by Justice Mosk, it is stated that sometimes a handicap may well be an asset because “ . . . few can pass through the crucible of a severe physical disability without learning enduring lessons in patience and tolerance.” The court wisely observes that a handicapped parent is a whole person to the child who needs the parent’s affection, sympathy and wisdom to deal with the problems of growing up and that talking to the child and teaching the child might well be the most valuable service a parent can render. The California Supreme Court points out succinctly that “ . . . if a person has a physical handicap it is impermissible for the court simply to rely on that condition as prima facie evidence of the person’s unfitness as a parent or of probable detriment to the child; rather, in all cases the court must view the handicapped person as an individual and the family as a whole. To achieve this, the *486court should inquire into the person’s actual and potential physical capabilities, learn how he or she has adapted to the disability and manages its problems, consider how the other members of the household have adjusted thereto, and take into account the special contributions the person may make to the family despite — or even because of— the handicap. Weighing these and all other relevant factors together, the court should then carefully determine whether the parent’s condition will in fact have a substantial and lasting adverse effect on the best interest of the child.” We agree with the opinion of the California Supreme Court that it is erroneous to presume that a handicapped parent cannot share a meaningful lifelong relationship with his or her minor child. Whether or not the Arkansas trial court inquired into all such matters is not before us for review. The Arkansas decree is final and it must be given full faith and credit by the courts of Texas.
The motion for rehearing is overruled.