Appellate Court: Parents Deserve an Impartial Judge and Fair Trial Before Terminating Parental Rights
A recent case out of Washington state was so egregious the appellate court not only rejected it, but sent it back to be heard again—in a different county. Generally, when a case is appealed, the appellate court will either uphold the original decision or “remand” it, meaning they send it back for a do-over, with special instructions from the higher court. But this case required the court to come up with a whole new option. “The right to a fair trial before an impartial tribunal is a basic requirement of due process,” Justice Smith wrote for a unanimous Court of Appeals for the State of Washington. “The right to due process is especially critical in a proceeding to terminate parental rights, where so much is at stake for both the parents and the child.”