Ex Parte Erg

Summary

The court held that Alabama's Grandparent Visitation Act is unconstitutional on its face because it permits courts to override a fit parent's decision concerning a child's associations based only on the child's best interests, without adequately protecting the parent's fundamental right to direct the child's upbringing. The Act neither requires a compelling state interest nor limits interference through narrowly tailored means, and its operative visitation standard cannot be severed from the remainder of the Act. The court therefore affirmed the Court of Civil Appeals' judgment, although on a different rationale.