Clark v. Wade

This case requires this Court to decide whether OCGA § 19-7-1 (b.l), which authorizes an award of custody to a nonparent upon a showing that such an award is in the best interest of the child, is constitutional. In my view, because it only considers the best interest of the child and fails to consider the fundamental rights of parents, this Code section cannot pass constitutional muster.

Under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and our state constitution, parents have a fundamental liberty interest and privacy right in raising their children without undue state influence.…