Family Law Commons^™

Has Connecticut Thrown Out The Baby With The Bath Water? Termination Of Parental Rights And In Re Valerie D., Jennifer M. Mone

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Note focuses on the termination of parental rights in the context of drug-addicted parents. Termination of parental rights has been characterized as a unique kind of deprivation which has the effect of ending a fundamental liberty interest. In In re Valerie D., Connecticut has established a new precedent in the area of termination of parental rights by holding that parental rights may be terminated at birth solely on the basis of prenatal conduct. This Note discusses Valerie D. in the context of the governmental obligation to promote family integrity and the penumbra of rights residing in the parents, the …