Lassiter v. Department of Social Servs. of Durham Cty.
- Decided
- August 28, 1981
- Docket
- 79-6423
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 3,458 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- holding that the constitutional right to counsel exists only when the loss of liberty is threatened — Van Dyke Johnson v. Stephen Doughty, Doctor, John Cearlock, Don Hinderliter (2006)
- holding that due process does not require appointment of counsel in every parental termination proceeding — Bellevue School Dist. v. Es (2011)
- holding that constitutional right to counsel in parental termination proceedings determined on a case-by-case basis — In re R.W. and N.W. (2011)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
Justice Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.
I
In the late spring of 1975, after hearing evidence that the petitioner, Abby Gail Lassiter, had not provided her infant son William with proper medical care, the District Court of Durham County, N. C., adjudicated him a neglected child and transferred him to the custody of the Durham County Department of Social Services, the respondent here. A year later, Ms. Lassiter was charged with first-degree murder, was convicted of second-degree murder, and began a sentence of 25 to 40 years of imprisonment.[1] In 1978 the Department [*21] petitioned the court to terminate Ms. Lassiter’s parental rights because, the Department alleged, she “has not had any contact with the child since December of 1975” and “has willfully left the child in foster care for more than two consecutive years without showing that substantial progress has been made in correcting the conditions which led to the removal of the child, or without showing a positive response to the diligent efforts of the Department of Social Services to strengthen her relationship to the child, or to make and follow through with constructive planning for the future of the child.”
Cite this
Lassiter v. Department of Social Servs. of Durham Cty., 452 U.S. 18 (1981)Read the full opinion
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