Summary of facts: A Georgia child protection agency filed a petition with a juvenile court to terminate a mother’s parental rights as to her three children following her diagnosis of mental illness and allegations that her boyfriend abused her. The juvenile court found that there was no risk of harm in a continued parent-child relationship but that there was a risk of harm if the mother’s three children were returned to her custody. Based on this finding, the juvenile court granted the petition and permanently severed the mother’s relationship with her children. The Georgia Court of Appeals reversed, and the State appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court. That court agreed to hear the case. 

RFI’s position: The State’s authority to protect a child from harm does not give it automatic authority to terminate the child’s legal relationship with a parent. Removing a child from parental custody and permanently severing the parent-child bond are distinct acts that require distinct justifications. The State must satisfy strict scrutiny, the most demanding constitutional standard, before permanently severing the parent-child relationship: it must identify a compelling interest and demonstrate that termination is narrowly tailored to achieve it.

Read the brief here.