Parental Rights in Maine
Maine Parental Rights News
Take Action to Protect Children and Parents in Maine
LD 798, a bill that threatens children and parental rights, is scheduled for a hearing next week. The measure comes before Maine’s Joint Standing Committee on Educational and Cultural Affairs on Wednesday, March 13, at 1:00 pm in Room 208 of the Cross Building in Augusta. LD 798 would remove the right of parents to…
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Maine State Law and Parental Rights
At Risk
Maine does not have a state statute that explicitly defines and protects parental rights as fundamental rights.
LD 472 (2017) would have put into black and white that the rights of parents are fundamental and deserve the protection of strict scrutiny; however, the bill did not pass.
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Maine Courts and Parental Rights
"Strict Scrutiny" Applied to Parental Rights
Maine courts have a precedent of protecting parental rights as fundamental rights receiving strict scrutiny protection. This precedent is based in part on the US Supreme Court's Troxel ruling, which means Maine's standard could change to reflect Troxel's lower standard of review, but so far no erosion seems to have taken place. However, this precedent is subject to change.
- In Rideout v. Riendeau, 761 A.2d 291, at 299-300 (2000), the Maine Supreme Court held that, based on the U.S Supreme Court's Troxel ruling, the due process clause "provides heightened protection against state intervention in parents' fundamental right to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children... [which] mandates strict scrutiny."
- In re Guardianship of David C., 10 A.3d 684, 686 (Me. 2010), the Maine Supreme Court stated the following:
We have, however, "consistently recognized, absent a showing of unfitness, parents' fundamental liberty interest with respect to the care, custody, and control of their children." Guardianship of Jewel M., 2010 ME 80, ¶ 6, 2 A.3d 301, 303-04; Guardianship of Jewel M., 2010 ME 17, ¶ 12, 989 A.2d 726, 729; Guardianship of Jeremiah T., 2009 ME 74, ¶ 27, 976 A.2d at 962; Rideout v. Riendeau, 2000 ME 198, ¶ 18, 761 A.2d 291, 299; see also Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 65-66, 69, 72, 120 S. Ct. 2054, 147 L. Ed. 2d 49 (2000). (emphasis added)