E.S.H. v. K.D.

Issue: 1) Whether denying a parent the right to raise his child in the absence of a compelling state interest and narrowly tailored means violates the Fourteenth Amendment, 2) whether Pennsylvania's in loco parentis doctrine, which allows legal strangers to seek custody of a child, violates the right of the child's parent to raise his child, and 3) whether a showing that a parent's action or inaction resulted in harm to the child is required to demonstrate a "compelling" state interest warranting the state's interference with a parent's right to raise his child.

Briefs and Documents

Certiorari-stage documents

• Opinion below (Superior Court of Pennsylvania)
• Petition for certiorari
• Brief in opposition
• Amicus brief of Center for Arizona Policy et al.