The Constitutional Parent: Rights, Responsibilities, and the Enfranchisement of the Child

What best serves a child’s welfare is a paramount legal consideration in issues concerning parent–child relations. If parents fail to fulfill the “best interest of the child” standard such as in cases of abuse, bizarre religious beliefs, or failure to educate their child, the state may intercede. Despite this long held tradition, it is a common presumption that parents have a fundamental right to raise their child as they wish without state interference..In this wonderful book, Shulman argues against the notion that parents have a sacred right to control their child’s upbringing. Parents, he emphasizes, are entrusted with their child’s upbringing. It is best to think in terms of duties, rather than rights. This notion, contrary to the beliefs of the parents’ rights movement is the predominant tradition in American law.Shulman reviews the history of important legal decisions, brilliantly integrating psychological, social and jurisprudential perspectives. The book is written clearly and passionately. It is what we have been waiting for. Everyone interested in the well-being of our children will benefit from reading it.