No. 23-5831

Roberto Carlos Mendives, Individually and On Behalf of His Four Minor Children, R. C. M., II, M. A. M., G. L. M., and E. F. M. v. Bexar County, Texas, et al.

Lower Court: Fifth Circuit
Docketed: 2023-10-18
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: child-custody civil-rights due-process family-law first-amendment fourteenth-amendment parens-patriae parental-rights standing strict-scrutiny
Key Terms:
DueProcess FirstAmendment Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2024-01-05
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether this court should overrule the fact that the state court has separated a fit parent from his/her minor children without an adjudication hearing

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. Whether this court should overrule the fact ; that the state court has separated a fit parent from his/her minor children without an adjudication hearing when federal courts have repeatedly found that parent and child share an intimate and expressive relationship that is protected by the First Amendment concept of free association and this court has recognized that there is fundamental right of parents to direct their children’s upbringing resolves this case, and concluded that strict scrutiny is the appropriate standard of review to apply to infringements of fundamental rights. 2. Whether it is beyond any doubt that a fit parent’s constitutional rights exist, that they are First Amendment rights, and that they apply to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment; and, that where the state infringes upon the rights of parents it also infringes upon the rights of the child. Surely, the state must carry a heavy burden of proof before it can deprive a child of fundamental rights based on nothing more than a state judge’s opinion of that child’s best interests. 38. Whether there is a presumption that fit parents act in their children’s best interests, that there is normally no reason for the State to inject itself into the private realm of the family to further question fit parents’ ability to make the best decisions © regarding their children 4, Whether an adjudicated parent who has sired his minor children can be deprive by the state from personally care for his minor children to instead activate the parens patriae doctrine without any type of adjudication hearing to self-ward [Petitioner’s] minor children to the state in order to obtain Title IVD Child Support funding from the federal government. Il

Docket Entries

2024-01-08
Petition DENIED.
2023-11-30
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/5/2024.
2023-11-17
Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
2023-07-31
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due November 17, 2023)

Attorneys

Roberto C. Mendives
Roberto Carlos Mendives — Petitioner
United States
Elizabeth B. PrelogarSolicitor General, Respondent