There is a movement in New York to require all people that have children who are divorcing to complete a parenting program. Although it may be deemed a laudable goal, a mandate of this sort, simply stated, is a bad idea.
The right to be a parent is a fundamental and cannot be abridged but for extreme situations. According to the Federal Courts, including the Supreme Court:
- Parents have a fundamental constitutionally protected interest in continuity of legal bond with their children and are so fundamental, as to be guaranteed protection under the First, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.
- A once married parent who is separated or divorced from the other parent and is no longer living with his child cannot constitutionally be treated differently from a currently married person living with his child.
- Even when blood relationships are strained, parents retain vital interest in preventing irretrievable destruction of their family life; if anything, persons faced with forced dissolution of their parental rights have more critical need for procedural protections than do those resisting state intervention into ongoing family affairs.
How then can a person be subjected to a parenting mandate just because they will no longer be married? Is the government somehow concluding that a divorcing parent has inferior parental skills to that of a parent who has not entered the court system? What about the poor parenting of other millions of other people; those who treat their children badly ; those who have nothing at all to do with their children?
Clearly, such an obligation is discriminatory and unconstitutional and should not be enacted. If the government wants to legislate how one raises their child, then they must create a set of licensing requirements to become a parent in the first place. Which of course, the government would never and should never do.
If you are embroiled in a family law dispute, hiring a skilled family law attorney can help immensely. Learn about your rights and your options by contacting The Law Offices of Gildin & Chapman today.
