[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 984 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
1st Session
S. 984
To protect the fundamental right of a parent to direct the upbringing
of a child, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 29 (legislative day, June 19), 1995
Mr. Grassley (for himself, Mr. Lott, Mr. Helms, and Mr. Cochran)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To protect the fundamental right of a parent to direct the upbringing
of a child, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Parental Rights and Responsibilities
Act of 1995''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) the Supreme Court has regarded the right of parents to
direct the upbringing of their children as a fundamental right
implicit in the concept of ordered liberty within the 14th
amendment to the Constitution, as specified in Meyer v.
Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923) and Pierce v. Society of Sisters,
268 U.S. 510 (1925);
(2) the role of parents in the raising and rearing of their
children is of inestimable value and deserving of both praise
and protection by all levels of government;
(3) the tradition of western civilization recognizes that
parents have the responsibility to love, nurture, train, and
protect their children;
(4) some decisions of Federal and State courts have treated
the right of parents not as a fundamental right but as a
nonfundamental right, resulting in an improper standard of
judicial review being applied to government conduct that
adversely affects parental rights and prerogatives;
(5) parents face increasing intrusions into their
legitimate decisions and prerogatives by government agencies in
situations that do not involve traditional understandings of
abuse or neglect but simply are a conflict of parenting
philosophies;
(6) governments should not interfere in the decisions and
actions of parents without compelling justification; and
(7) the traditional 4-step process used by courts to
evaluate cases concerning the right of parents described in
paragraph (1) appropriately balances the interests of parents,
children, and government.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to protect the right of parents to direct the
upbringing of their children as a fundamental right;
(2) to protect children from abuse and neglect as the terms
have been traditionally defined and applied in State law, such
protection being a compelling government interest;
(3) while protecting the rights of parents, to acknowledge
that the rights involve responsibilities and specifically that
parents have the responsibility to see that their children are
educated, for the purposes of literacy and self-sufficiency, as
specified by the Supreme Court in Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S.
205 (1972);
(4) to preserve the common law tradition that allows
parental choices to prevail in a health care decision for a
child unless, by neglect or refusal, the parental decision will
result in danger to the life of the child or result in serious
physical injury to the child;
(5) to fix a standard of judicial review for parental
rights, leaving to the courts the application of the rights in
particular cases based on the facts of the cases and law as
applied to the facts; and
(6) to reestablish a 4-step process to evaluate cases
concerning the right of parents described in paragraph (1)
that--
(A) requires a parent to initially demonstrate
that--
(i) the action in question arises from the
right of the parent to direct the upbringing of
a child; and
(ii) a government has interfered with or
usurped the right; and
(B) shifts the burdens of production and persuasion
to the government to demonstrate that--
(i) the interference or usurpation is
essential to accomplish a compelling
governmental interest; and
(ii) the method of intervention or
usurpation used by the government is the least
restrictive means of accomplishing the
compelling interest.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) Appropriate evidence.--The term ``appropriate
evidence'' means--
(A) for a case in which a government seeks a
temporary or preliminary action or order, except a case
in which the government seeks to terminate parental
custody or visitation, evidence that demonstrates
probable cause; and
(B) for a case in which a government seeks a final
action or order, or in which the government seeks to
terminate parental custody or visitation, clear and
convincing evidence.
(2) Child.--The term ``child'' has the meaning provided by
State law.
(3) Parent.--The term ``parent'' has the meaning provided
by State law.
(4) Right of a parent to direct the upbringing of a
child.--
(A) In general.--The term ``right of a parent to
direct the upbringing of a child'' includes, but is not
limited to a right of a parent regarding--
(i) directing or providing for the
education of the child;
(ii) making a health care decision for the
child, except as provided in subparagraph (B);
(iii) disciplining the child, including
reasonable corporal discipline, except as
provided in subparagraph (C); and
(iv) directing or providing for the
religious teaching of the child.
(B) No application to parental decisions on health
care.--The term ``right of a parent to direct the
upbringing of a child'' shall not include a right of a
parent to make a decision on health care for the child
that, by neglect or refusal, will result in danger to
the life of the child or in serious physical injury to
the child.
(C) No application to abuse and neglect.--The term
``right of a parent to direct the upbringing of a
child'' shall not include a right of a parent to act or
refrain from acting in a manner that constitutes abuse
or neglect of a child, as the terms have traditionally
been defined and applied in State law.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON INTERFERING WITH OR USURPING RIGHTS OF PARENTS.
No Federal, State, or local government, or any official of such a
government acting under color of law, shall interfere with or usurp the
right of a parent to direct the upbringing of the child of the parent.
SEC. 5. STRICT SCRUTINY.
No exception to section 4 shall be permitted, unless the government
or official is able to demonstrate, by appropriate evidence, that the
interference or usurpation is essential to accomplish a compelling
governmental interest and is narrowly drawn or applied in a manner that
is the least restrictive means of accomplishing the compelling
interest.
SEC. 6. CLAIM OR DEFENSE.
Any parent may raise a violation of this Act in an action in a
Federal or State court, or before an administrative tribunal, of
appropriate jurisdiction as a claim or a defense.
SEC. 7. DOMESTIC RELATIONS CASES AND DISPUTES BETWEEN PARENTS.
This Act shall not apply to--
(1) domestic relations cases concerning the appointment of
parental rights between parents in custody disputes; or
(2) any other dispute between parents.
SEC. 8. ATTORNEY'S FEES.
Subsections (b) and (c) of section 722 of the Revised Statutes (42
U.S.C. 1988 (b) and (c)) (concerning the award of attorney's and expert
fees) shall apply to cases brought or defended under this Act. A person
who uses this Act to defend against a suit by a government described in
section 4 shall be construed to be the plaintiff for the purposes of
the application of such subsections.
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