Scott v. Department of Social & Health Services

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• stating that a court need not reach a party's constitutional arguments if it can resolve the case on statutory grounds
• stating that a court need not reach a party’s constitutional arguments if it can resolve the case on statutory grounds
• holding the best interests of the child prevail when the rights of parent and child conflict, and providing guiding considerations for the trial court in the event of a future motion for change of placement
• \This court has repeatedly emphasized that parents have a fundamental liberty and privacy interest in the care and custody of their children.\
• \This court has repeatedly emphasized that parents have a fundamental liberty and privacy interest in the care and custody of their children.\
• A dependency court must “carefully evaluate” a placement decision because of the potential harm the child may suffer “if effectively severed from contact with [parents, siblings, and caregivers].”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).