Adult Rights as the Achilles' Heel of the Best Interests Standard: Lessons in Family Law From Across the Pond

Abstract

Part I considers the constitutional rights for American adults that implicate the best interests standard, particularly under due process and equal protection arguments. Part II explores the same conflict between adults' rights and children's best interests under recent English legislation incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights. Finally, Part III exacts lessons for the United States from England's similarly positioned situation. It concludes that American federal courts should be more hesitant to federalize family law as it relates to children if the best interests standard is to be preserved and argues that the standard is more effective in protecting children's interests than the Constitution.