Joseph Very Sherman, Individually, and as Biological Father, Next Friend, and Natural Guardian of H. M. S., J. C. S., and M. R. S., Minor Children, et al. v. Louis R. Lerner, former Judge, Circuit Court of Virginia, City of Norfolk

The trial judge entered an Order (App. 10a-21a) that deprived each of the three child Petitioners of their right to associate with their fit and loving father, Petitioner Sherman, and deprived him of his right to care for the children. The Supreme Court of Virginia entered an Order (App. la-5a) that found, inter alia, the trial court Order (App. 10a-21a) did not violate procedural due process by taking evidence from one parent and not the other before issuing a child custody order from the bench. Do the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments require pre-deprivation due process before a court enters a child custody order that infringes fundamental liberty interests of both a fit parent and a minor child and severs the relationship between the child and fit parent?