Parental Rights in South Dakota
Resolution Supporting the PRA
We did it! Thanks in part to your support, in 2010, the South Dakota legislature adopted a resolution calling on the U.S. Congress to propose the Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and to pass it to the States for ratification. (Learn more about state resolutions.)
South Dakota Parental Rights News
Should the U.S. “Make Raising Your Own Children Illegal?”
“If California is ever going to achieve true equity, the state must require parents to give away their children. … My solution—making raising your own children illegal—is simple…” So said Joe Matthews, a columnist for the Ventura County Star, in an opinion piece published on January 13, 2022. His opinion piece was republished a few…
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South Dakota State Law and Parental Rights
At Risk
South Dakota does not have a state statute that explicitly defines and protects parental rights as fundamental rights.
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South Dakota Courts and Parental Rights
At High Risk
South Dakota's Supreme Court has held based on the Troxel case that parental rights cases do not require the strict scrutiny standard of review.
In Feist v. Lemieux-Feist, 793 N.W.2d 57, 60–61 (S.D. 2010), the Court wrote, "[W]e do not read Troxel as specifically requiring a finding of parental unfitness in third party visitation or custody cases. As we have noted before, Troxel only requires that 'special weight' be given to a fit parent's determinations regarding her children."