whether-ky-rev-stat-ann-§-199.502-violates-the-fourteenth-amendment's-due-process-clause

QUESTIONS PRESENTED The questions presented for review are: (1) whether Ky. REV. STAT. ANN. § 199.502 violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause because it fails to articulate a clear and convincing evidentiary standard; (2) whether KY. REV. STAT. ANN. § 199.502 violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause because it is vague in both failing to define the term “abandoned” or whether the 90-day abandonment period is consecutive or cumulative; (3) whether the lower courts’ application of a presumption that Ky. REV. STAT. ANN. § 199.502 is constitutional conflicts with this Court’s prior decisions; and (4) whether this Court’s precedents regarding the sanctity of parental rights are deeply rooted in American history and tradition such that they continue to exist after Dobbs. This Court’s precedent holds that the rights of biological parents to a relationship with their minor children are among associational rights which the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause fundamentally protects against unwarranted usurpation or disregard. See e.g., Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645 (1972); ii Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745 (1982); Troxel v. Granville, 520 U.S. 57 (2000). However, the Court’s recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s _—_ Health Organization, 597 U.S. __, 142 S. Ct. 2228 (2022) calls into question whether this implied right persists. In Kentucky, the statute which permits the type of parental rights termination here at issue operates on a precariously low evidentiary standard, preponderance of the evidence. Such standard disregards decades of this Court’s pre-Dobbs jurisprudence which command the application of a heightened evidentiary standard. In this case, Kentucky courts determined that the Petitioner had “abandoned” her child “for a period of no less than 90 days.” The term “abandoned,” however, is not defined anywhere in the applicable Kentucky statutes. Also undefined is whether the 90-day abandonment period is consecutive or cumulative. Thus, a Kentucky parent who experienced long-term isolated hospitalization due to Covid; who has fled to a shelter from domestic violence; or who has gone on a mission trip abroad, are all subject to having their parental rights terminated under the challenged Kentucky statute.