Jesse Rehbein, et al. v. Annette Rehbein, et al.

In Troxel v. Granville, this Cour t concluded that Washington’s Grandparent Visitation Statute unconstitutionally infringed a fit parent’s federal constitutional right to direct the care and upbringing of his or her child. Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000). Moreover, the Due Process Clause forbids States from removing a minor child from a parent’s custody without a hearing on that parent’s fitness. Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 658 (1972) (“all parents are constitutionally entitled to a hearing on their fitness before their children are removed from their custody”). Left expressly unanswered by the opinions in Troxel and Stanley, the questions presented in this case are: I. Whether the granting of a Final Parenting Plan under MCA §40-4-228 was in error, under this Court’s precedent, as MCA §40-4-228 is unconstitutional on its face, as the statute allows court ordered parental interest, when in the judicial best interest of the child, without a finding of potential harm, or fitness of the parent, in violation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.