Eugene W., In re
| Decision Date | 26 December 1972 |
| Citation | 105 Cal.Rptr. 736,29 Cal.App.3d 623 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | In re Eugene W. et al., minor persons. Mary Ellen VANDER SLUIS, Child Welfare Worker, County of Napa, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Betty Jean W., Defendant and Appellant. Civ. 31136. |
Napa County Legal Assistance Agency by Leonard L. Leuschner, John T. Rossi, Napa, for defendant and appellant.
Evelle J. Younger, Atty. Gen., State of California, Elizabeth Palmer, Acting Asst. Atty. Gen., Sheridan H. Brown, Deputy Atty. Gen., San Francisco, Stephen W. Hackett, County Counsel of the County of Napa, Henry E. McNeely, Deputy County Counsel, Napa, for plaintiff and respondent.
Defendant Betty W. appeals from the trial court's judgment freeing her four minor children from parental custody and control pursuant to Civil Code, section 232, subdivision (g). 1
These proceedings were initiated by Mary Ellen Vander Sluis, a child welfare worker in the Public Welfare Department of Napa County, who petitioned the Napa County Superior Court to declare appellant's four minor children free from parental custody and control under section 232, subdivisions (a), (b), (c) and (g). Appellant, represented by counsel and claiming various defects in the petition, filed a request to set it aside. The court treated the request as a demurrer, as a result of which the petition was amended on its face to allege that the action was being brought under section 232, subdivision (g), only. The demurrer was in all other respects overruled. Thereafter a motion to compel appellant to submit to a mental examination was granted. Appellant was examined by two physicians who testified that she was suffering from a simple type of schizophrenia rendering her unable to take care of herself, her economic needs and incapable of taking care of and controlling her four minor children. Upon this and other evidence the trial court decreed appellant's four minor children to be free from parental control and custody. Appellant does not question the sufficiency of the evidence to support the judgment. Constitutionalty of Civil Code Section 232, Subdivision (g)
Appellant's main contention is that section 232, subdivision (g), is unconstitutional and violative of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because (a) it discriminates on the basis of poverty and mental illness which is an invidious discrimination as a matter of law; and (b) the parent-child relationship is a fundamental one which can be interfered with only by showing a compelling state interest, appellant contending that the only state interest here presented in monetary. Appellant also argues that the implied distinction drawn between physical and mental illness is arbitrary. We find no substance in any of these arguments.
(a) Section 232 provides that 'An action may be brought for the purpose of having any person under the age of 21 years declared free from the custody and control of either or both of his parents when such person comes within any of the following descriptions: . . . (g) Whose parent or parents are, and will remain incapable of supporting Or controlling the child in a proper manner because of mental deficiency or mental illness . . .' (emphasis added).
Preliminarily, we point out that the language of the statute demonstrates on its face that the statutory classification is based solely on mental deficiency or mental illness, not on poverty. It is also patently discernible that the statute speaks in a disjunctive manner, making the inability to support and the inability to control singularly and separately a cause for the severance of parental ties. However, as will be seen later, mental deficiency or mental illness, by its very definition, inherently affects the sick parent's ability to control. Therefore, the mentally deficient or ill parent, even if otherwise able to support his child, will be deprived of his parenthood under the statute because of his inherent inability to control the child in a proper manner, and the disparity between a poor and rich parent as envisioned by appellant simply cannot occur. This, in turn, narrows the issue to whether the mental deficiency or mental illness constitutes a valid reason for classification.
Under well established principles of constitutional law, the mandate of equal protection cannot be equated with equal treatment. On the contrary, that the Legislature is empowered to make a proper classification is firmly rooted in our law. In order to be constitutional, such classification may not be arbitrary, i.e., made for the mere purpose of classification, but must rest on a reasonable basis. The classification is deemed reasonable if it is based on some natural, intrinsic or constitutional distinction and is germane to a legitimate purpose within the power of the Legislature (Bilyeu v. State Employees' Retirement System (1962) 58 Cal.2d 618, 623, 25 Cal.Rptr. 562, 375 P.2d 442; City of Santa Barbara v. Modern Neon Sign Co. (1961) 189 Cal.App.2d 188, 193, 11 Cal.Rptr. 57). The courts exhibit great deference toward the acts of the Legislature and emphasize that wide discretion is vested in making the classification; every presumption is in favor of the validity of the statute; and the decision of the Legislature as to what is a sufficient distinction to warrant the classification will not be overthrown by the courts unless it is palpably arbitrary and beyond rational doubt, erroneous (Patton v. La Bree (1963) 60 Cal.2d 606, 609, 35 Cal.Rptr. 622, 387 P.2d 398; Bilyeu v. State Employees' Retirement System, supra). As an invariable rule, a distinction in legislation is not arbitrary if any set of facts can be conceived that would sustain it; and the burden of overcoming the presumption of constitutionality is cast upon the assailant (Dribin v. Superior Court (1951) 37 Cal.2d 345, 352, 231 P.2d 809, 24 A.L.R.2d 864).
When viewed in light of the foregoing premises, it appears unquestionable that the statutory classification at hand, which draws a distinction between parents who are mentally ill or deficient and those who are not, does have a reasonable factual basis. Under statutory definition 2 mentally deficient or ill persons are those who are incapable of managing themselves and their affairs independantly and who require supervision, control, care, etc., for their own welfare or the welfare of others. Thus, by statutory definition, it clearly appears that persons determined to be mentally deficient or ill are ipso facto unable to take care of or exercise proper control over their children. It follows that the statutory classification which permits the severance of the parental ties in this type of situation is fully justified and supported by reason and cannot be regarded as arbitrary.
(b) Appellant's next argument--that the only interest of the state is monetary--is obviously based on a misreading of the intent of the Legislature in enacting the statute. The legislative intent underlying the Freedom From Parental Custody and Control Act, of which section 232, subdivision (g), is a part, has been stated in the following: 'It is the intention of the Legislature in enacting this act to extend adoption services for the benefit of children residing in foster homes at public expense by facilitating legal actions required for adoption so that these children may be placed in adoptive homes where they will have the benefits of stability and security.' (Stats.1970, ch. 583, § 1, p. 1160; emphasis added.)
It is plain from the quoted language that the intent of the Legislature was not to save money but rather to secure the welfare and best interest of the child by freeing him from parental care when adoptive homes would provide stability and security otherwise missing from his life. The legislative intent has been made even more explicit by the adoption of section 232.5, which sets forth that the provisions of the Act shall be liberally construed to serve and protect the interests and welfare of the child.
Indeed, contrary to the previous feudalistic view which claimed a parental property right in the child (cf. Turner v. Turner (1959) 167 Cal.App.2d 636, 642, 334 P.2d 1011; Shea v. Shea (1950) 100 Cal.App.2d 60, 65, 223 P.2d 32), the modern trend of cases and authorities places a growing emphasis on the paramount interest of the child. Thus, in In re Neal (1968) 265 Cal.App.2d 482, 490, 71 Cal.Rptr. 300; the court emphatically pointed out that in applying the provisions of section 232 the trial court must consider the best interest and welfare of the child. The authorities likewise urge that the dominant parent-right doctrine should be replaced by a broadened, best-interests-of-the-child test, so that the court's inquiry will focus on the needs of the child rather than the rights of the parents (Kay and Philips, Poverty and the Law of Child Custody, 54 Cal.L.Rev. 717, 720 (1966). The foregoing discussion leaves no doubt that the legislative intent behind section 232, subdivision (g), is to promote the welfare of the child. Thus, it seems indisputable that, in order to facilitate this goal, the state as a parens patriae not only has a compelling interest but also a duty to sever the parental bonds once the situation contemplated by the statute arises.
Appellant's final constitutional contention, i.e., that the distinction drawn between physical and mental illness is capricious, is refuted by common knowledge and everyday experience. It requires no detailed discussion to demonstrate that the support and, even more, the control of the child is primarily a mental function to which soundness of mind is a crucial prerequisite. It is also well known that physical handicaps generally have no adverse effect upon mental functions. It is obvious therefore that, by reason of the differing nature of the two disabilities, a physically handicapped individual might well be able to carry out...
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