Leftist states give the government ever greater power to interfere with parenting, but legal history establishes parents’ and families’ long-standing, non-textual constitutional rights.
"This is a two-part series. Part I examines whether parental rights exist in constitutional law. Part II will examine the substance of constitutional parental rights.
"With the American family under full-scale assault from those who want to destroy the family and brainwash children in their own toxic ideology, it is more important than ever to establish that parents have constitutional rights to raise their children without government interference. Indeed, a strong argument can be made that what progressives are doing, between the overt sexualization of children and interference with parental rights, is not merely unconstitutional, but criminally so.
"The Supreme Court has held multiple times that parents have constitutional rights to raise and teach their children. These rights, although not explicitly stated in the Constitution itself, are still good constitutional law, even though they are spoken of in the case law as being based on the now discredited legal theory of “substantive due process of law.” That is, the holdings are constitutionally valid even without that “substantive due process” gloss.
The Fifth Amendment and Due Process of Law at the Founding
"In the 18th century, English law clearly defined the phrase “due process of law,” which the Founders incorporated into the Fifth Amendment of the Bill of Rights.
No person shall…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law….
"That phrase, “due process of law,” has roots stretching back to the Magna Carta of 1215 A.D. The United States adapted it from English law and held the common understanding that the term was a short-hand reference for all of the procedures with which the federal government had to comply before stripping people of their life, liberty or property (e.g., rights to a jury trial, to confront one’s accusers, etc.).
"During America’s first eight decades, state governments were not bound by any of the Bill of Rights’ restrictions. It only applied to and bound the federal government.
The 14th Amendment and Due Process of Law after the Civil War