Greene County Juvenile Office v. K.J.C.

Removal of a child from a parent’s custody implicates the fundamental right of parents to rear their children free from government interference. A parent’s right to rear her child is a fundamental liberty interest protected by the Constitution’s guarantee of due process. A parent’s liberty interest in the care, custody, and control of her *195child is perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court. This interest does not evaporate simply because a parent has not been a model parent, or even because she has lost temporary custody of her child to the…