02/28/2000

Grandparents' Visitation Rights

A complex and important case involving grandparents' rights will come before the Supreme Court this summer. Nancy Martin, a communications expert and former newspaper reporter, describes the basic issues behind this case in the following paragraphs:

By Nancy Martin

This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling that could affect the relationship thousands of grandparents nationwide have with their grandchildren. The case before the court, Troxel vs. Granville, involves the rights of grandparents to see grandchildren when the parents choose to limit visitation.

The effects of the court decision will be widely felt, since about 60 million Americans are grandparents and every state has laws that allow grandparents and others to seek visitation after divorce, death or other circumstances.

Supporters of visitation laws say there is a special bond between grandparents and grandchildren, and that grandparents should have the right to go to court to preserve that bond. Opponents argue that parents have a right to raise their children without government interference. The case now before the Supreme Court case dates back to 1993, and involves Natalie and Isabelle Troxel and their paternal grandparents, Jenifer and Gary Troxel of Anacortes, Wash.

Natalie and Isabelle are the daughters of Brad Troxel and Tommie Granville, who never married. After Brad Troxel and Granville separated, the two girls visited their father at his parents' home on occasion. Brad Troxel committed suicide in May 1993, and soon after, Granville decided to limit the girls' visits with their grandparents. In December 1993, the Troxels filed a petition in court seeking visitation rights with their granddaughters. They were granted visitation, but Granville appealed the decision to Washington State Supreme Court. Granville had married Kelly Wynn, who adopted the girls in 1996.

In December 1998, the Washington State Supreme Court struck down the state statute allowing visitation, calling the law an "unconstitutional deprivation of the parents' fundamental rights concerning the upbringing of their children." The Troxels appealed that ruling, bringing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court and putting the spotlight on a divisive and, for many, very personal issue.

Historically, grandparents have not had legal standing to petition the courts for visitation. But the increase in divorces in the 1970s helped give rise to the grandparents' rights movement. The growing political power of senior citizens eventually prompted all state legislatures to pass visitation laws.

Supporters of visitation laws have said it's important for children to know where they come from and be in touch with their roots. One strong advocate, the American Association of Retired Persons, has filed a brief with the Supreme Court in support of the Washington law allowing visitation. The AARP and other organizations say they aren't proposing that grandparents have an automatic right to visit their grandchildren, but that grandparents have the right to go to court if their grandchildren's parents severely limit or cut off contact.

The Grandparents Resource Center, a Denver-based non-profit organization, says the issue goes beyond visitation rights. The elimination of these rights could also erode grandparents' legal standing to petition the court in matters of adoption and custody, even when grandchildren are in harmful situations, according to the center. Opponents of visitation laws like the Coalition for the Restoration of Parental Rights contend that grandparents with significant lobbying power have pressured legislators in some states to override parents' rights. The coalition says visitation laws can be abused by grandparents who may not have the grandchildren's best interests in mind when they turn to the courts. Some grandparents seek visitation to force an estranged son- or daughter-in-law into lengthy and costly litigation, opponents say. As the Supreme Court justices wrestle with these difficult questions, groups and individuals on both sides of the issue are watching intently. Whatever decision is made will affect not just the entire nation, but three generations of its citizens.

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