An area grandmother is fighting for the rights of Alabama’s grandparents—a fight she says needs the public’s assistance.
The Alabama Supreme Court struck down June 10 a state law granting grandparents visitation rights with their grandchildren despite the parents’ wishes.
The 7-2 decision cites a failure of the law to respect the wishes of “fit parents.”
Justice Glen Parker called the ruling the most important issue that has come before the high court.
The court, he wrote, was asked to decide “when a state may impinge upon the fundamental right of a fit, natural parent to decide which associations are in the best interests of his or her children.”
The court’s ruling came shortly after Gov. Robert Bentley signed into law a bill granting grandparents visitation rights.
“This was an important bill to sign because I feel grandparents play an important role in the lives of their grandchildren and their development. I am a grandfather myself. I know how important it is to see my grandchildren,” Bentley said in an interview with The Southeast Sun.
The court, however, ruled the law unconstitutional.
Deborah Trammell, a local grandmother and nurse, says the issue before the court was not as simplistic as granting power to parents.
The court’s ruling could have created a legal basis to prevent Trammell from seeing her grandchildren had a court not previously ruled otherwise. Her grandchildren are the last ties she has to her son who died in 2007.
The ruling, she said, fails to consider the rights of grandparents who have lost their children and wish to be involved in their grandchildren’s lives.
Trammell’s son died in 2007 only months after he and his wife divorced.
The mother of the children moved out of state, taking with her the children who had been in the custody of the Trammells for several months.
She later refused visitation rights for the Trammells, taking them to court Aug. 15 in an attempt to legally take away those rights.
“Luckily we had a court order from 2007 granting us visitation rights. If it wasn’t for that piece of paper we would not be able to see them even if they wanted to,” she said. “Knowing we could have lost our grandchildren if it wasn’t for the court order is scary.”
However, many grandparents throughout the state now face that possibility.
Trammell does not believe all grandparents should have access to their grandchildren.
“I know there are exceptions and unfit grandparents out there who should not be allowed to see their grandchildren,” she said. “But they are the exceptions.”
Legislators, in the Alabama Grandparents’ Visitation Rights legislation, appear to agree with Trammell.
Legislation granted parents the right to take legal action to prevent visitation if “good cause” for the action is presented, the law states.
The law also prevented parents from filing a petition to prevent visitation more than once in a two-year period unless “evidence of abuse is alleged, or other exceptional circumstances.”
Provisions are also listed for courts to follow in determining grandparent visitation to determine if visitation is in the best interests of the children.
“Children’s needs should be the first priority,” Trammell said. “I am just saying the loving relationship between grandparents and the child should be allowed. I am not here to say what parents should do with their children, though. Grandparents should be allowed to have a relationship with their grandchildren. One parent should not be able to prevent that relationship from developing.”
Trammell is urging individuals to contact their legislators and ask them to continue the fight for grandparents’ rights.
Contact information for local representatives can be found at www.legislature.state.al.us/index.html.
An appeal of the court’s ruling is expected in the near future.
(1) comment
This article takes one side of a difficult and complex issue. Constitutionally speaking, and from a public policy viewpoint, I believe it takes the wrong side.
The court in question properly applied governing U.S. constitutional law as set forth in Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000). Parents have a fundamental constitutional right to raise their children as they see fit, and to choose who shall associate with and care for those children. There is a constitutionally required rebuttable presumption that the decisions a fit custodial parent makes about nonparent visitation are in the child's best interest -- that is, right for that child, under all the applicable circumstances. Nonparents have no equivalent constitutional rights.
There can be many valid reasons for a parent to restrict or deny a grandparent access to his or her children. Grandparents, like anyone else, can be irresponsible, or in denial about physical conditions or addictions, or abusive. Some grandparents are unable to yield the dominant role they have played in their children's lives once those children grow up to be parents. Grandparents bitter about a divorce, or the circumstances of a parent's death, can seek to alienate the child from the custodial or surviving parent. Any judicial process that can override a parent's unreasonable decisions about visitation is all too likely to override decisions necessary for the child's well-being or protection.
From a public policy standpoint, taking a grandparent visitation dispute to court is almost always a tragically counterproductive move. Bringing suit generally destroys any possibility of a civil, let alone amicable, relationship between the grandparent and the custodial parent. Positions harden. The enormous financial and emotional stress the litigation inflicts takes a heavy toll on the whole custodial family, very much including the child. The family's financial stability may well be threatened, and luxuries like summer vacations, music lessons, new clothes, and college funds are highly likely casualties. If visitation is ultimately ordered, the child is caught in an emotional crossfire for years to come. The initial order may not be the last: petitions for contempt and motions to modify the visitation are likely to follow.
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