Child, Parent, State and the Due Process Clause: An Essay on the Supreme Court’s Recent Work

Authors

John H. Garvey, The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1977

Abstract

This Article will suggest that the right of autonomy, which limits state control over children, should be considered to reside not in the child alone, but in the family, just as the right against state interference with the family structure resides in the family. The shift in focus from children's rights to family rights implicitly accounts for the mental, physical, and emotional differences between children and adults. Moreover, protecting a family's right of autonomy insures that decisions on behalf of the child will be made by those presumptively best able to make such decisions, the parents.

Recommended Citation

John H. Garvey, Child, Parent, State and the Due Process Clause: An Essay on the Supreme Court’s Recent Work, 51 S. CAL. L. REV. 769 (1977).