Court Opinion

ID: 9542525
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:35:18.4724+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:08:11.419641
License: Public Domain

TOMLJANOVICH, Justice
(concurring specially).
I agree with the result reached in this ease because I believe that termination of parental rights is in the best interest of the children. But I do not believe the statute should be read, nor do I believe the Legislature intended to foreclose best interest of the children as the primary consideration in determining their future.
The majority notes that the permanency statute requires “[i]n ordering a permanent placement of a child, the court must be governed by the best interests of the child.” Minn.Stat. § 260.191, subd. 3b(c)(1996). The statute governing termination of parental rights states “the best interests of the child must be the paramount consideration.” Minn.Stat. § 260.221, subd. 4 (1996). No function a judge performs is as important as the placement of children and the termination of parental rights. We cannot assume that a parent is unfit in every ease where the *725parent is unable to assume his or her parental duties within the time the majority opinion dictates. There may be no suitable relative to fill the gap. Because we are unable to anticipate all those problems, a rule that prohibits long-term foster care with no consideration for the best interests of the child may do terrible harm.
While predicting adoption with certainty may be impossible, surely it should be a factor a judge may consider when facing the stark choice of long-term foster care or termination of parental rights. How can it be in the best interest of a child to ignore the possibility of a future with no parent — with no family — however flawed we may,believe them to be.
In my view the Legislature did not intend that the statute be interpreted to foreclose any option that would be in the best interest of the children.