Middleton v. Johnson

ANDERSON, J.

(concurring in result only in a separate opinion):

In Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 120 S.Ct. 2054, 147 L.Ed.2d 49 (2000), the Supreme Court of the United States held that parents have a protected liberty interest in the care, custody and control of their children that is a fundamental right protected by the Due Process Clause. This fundamental right encompasses the presumption that a fit parent will act in the best interest of his or her child. I have gargantuan trepidation in regard to expanding Camburn v. Smith, 355 S.C. 574, 586 S.E.2d 565 (2003), and Moore v. Moore, 300 S.C. 75, 386 S.E.2d 456 (1989), beyond the actual holdings in these cases.

I VOTE to ALLOW visitation in the case sub judice over the objection of the biological mother and would confine the holding to the unique factual circumstances in this particular case.