Roth v. Weston

In Roth v. Weston, 259 Conn. 202, 789 A.2d 431 (2002), the defendant claimed that 46b-59 violated the rights of parents to raise their children as protected by the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States constitution and article first, 8, of the constitution of Connecticut. Roth v. Weston, supra, 259 Conn. at 209-10. The Court noted that whether 46b-59 is constitutional under the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment and article first, 8, was an important issue of first impression. Id. at 205. (The Roth court limited its decision to the defendant's federal constitutional claim). The Roth court went on to frame the issue in light of prior rulings by the United States Supreme Court and the Connecticut Supreme Court, noting that "the dispositive issue on appeal is whether, in light of the United States Supreme Court decision in Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000), 46b-59, as interpreted by this court in Castagno v. Wholean, 239 Conn. 336, 339-52, 684 A.2d 1181 (1996), is unconstitutional, either facially or as applied in this case." Roth v. Weston, supra, 259 Conn. at 209.