State Ex Rel. Lewis v. Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin & Upper Michigan

Perhaps the most important determination to be made is the effect of Stanley v. Illinois upon this case. In Stanley, the supreme court struck down an Illinois law which made children of unwed fathers wards of the state. Mr. Stanley had lived with a woman not his wife intermittently for some eighteen years, during which time they had three children.2 Upon the woman’s death, these children were placed with guardians. Mr. Stanley fought this placement, claiming a denial of equal protection. In Stanley, the supreme court decided two things: (1) That the denial of a natural father’s parental…