Zockert v. Fanning

How courts have described this case

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

• holding that right to counsel afforded to indigent parents in termination proceedings under the juvenile code extends to indigent parents in contested adoption proceedings because such proceedings result in termination of parental rights
• stating that “[t]his court decides cases upon sub-constitutional grounds, where available, even though litigants argue only constitutional errors”
• finding no distinction between privately initiated and state-initiated termination proceedings under the equal protection provision of the state constitution
• explaining, regarding predecessors of ORS 419B.205 and ORS 419B.518, that the legislature made assistance of counsel part of the process in termination cases, but created “a case-by-case right of counsel” in less extreme cases
• when a statute resolves the issue in the case, this court will not reach a constitutional claim
• in private adoptions based on nonconsensual grounds, parents must be accorded certain constitutional rights, including right to court-appointed counsel and elevated standard of proof

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).