Dawn D. v. Superior Court

I dissent.

The governing decisions of both the United States Supreme Court and this court establish that a biological father who promptly comes forward to assume his paternal responsibilities has a constitutional liberty interest in the opportunity to develop a relationship with his child, which the state may not extinguish without due process of law. The existence of this interest does not depend on the marital status of the child’s mother. The trial court in this case found that Jerry K., who alleges that he is the biological father of Dawn D.’s son, had done all he could under the…