No. 22-281

Peter Kruithoff v. Catholic Charities of West Michigan, et al.

Lower Court: Michigan
Docketed: 2022-09-26
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Amici (1)Response Waived
Tags: child-welfare due-process equal-protection marital-status parental-rights standing state-interest statutory-interpretation
Key Terms:
DueProcess Privacy
Latest Conference: 2022-12-02
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Does Michigan's Safe Delivery of Newborns Law comply with Due Process requirements?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. Under Michigan’s Safe Delivery of Newborns Law (““SDNL”), a parent-child relationship can be permanently severed (1) with less notice than is required in a child abuse case, (2) without any system in place for courts to determine if another court already has jurisdiction over the child, (3) without an adjudication of parental fitness, and (4) with only a preponderance of the evidence that termination is in the best interests of the child. Does the SDNL comply with Due _ Process requirements and, if not, does Michigan have a sufficient State interest to justify same? 2. Legal parents are entitled to an individualized fitness determination before the State destroys their family life. The SDNL permits the permanent severing of a parent’s relationship with their child based not on their actions, but on the other parent’s decision to surrender the child pursuant to Michigan’s SDNL rather than to surrender the child pursuant to Michigan’s Adoption Code. Does the SDNL violate the one-parent doctrine articulated by this Court in Stanley vu Illinois? 3. The Equal Protection Clause prohibits the disparate treatment of individuals based upon marital status absent the classification furthering an important government interest by means that are substantially related to that interest. In Michigan, unwed fathers have a greater ability to secure their rights to a surrendered newborn than a married father. Does Michigan have a sufficient State interest to justify legislation that provides lesser procedural protections to married parents than those who are unwed?

Docket Entries

2022-12-05
Petition DENIED.
2022-11-09
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/2/2022.
2022-11-09
2022-10-26
2022-10-26
Brief amici curiae of Nonprofit Adoption Advocacy Organizations filed.
2022-10-25
Waiver of right of respondent Catholic Charities West Michigan to respond filed.
2022-09-22
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 26, 2022)

Attorneys

Adoptive Parents 1 & 2
Liisa Renee SpeakerSpeaker Law Firm, PLLC, Respondent
Catholic Charities West Michigan
Herman D. HofmanVarnum LLP, Respondent
Nonprofit Adoption Advocacy Organizations
Collin Partington WedelSidley Austin LLP, Amicus
Peter Kruithoff
Saraphoena Boudrie KoffronAustin+Koffron, Petitioner