Chris Taffner and Anita Taffner, Appellants v. Arkansas Department of Human Services and N.t., A.t., B.t., K.t., And…

Summary

The court affirmed the termination of Chris and Anita Taffner’s parental rights. It declined to consider their ineffective-assistance claims because the circuit court did not specifically rule on those claims and the factual record was not fully developed, rejected Anita’s recusal challenge for lack of objective evidence of bias, and held that the Sixth Amendment confrontation guarantee does not apply to parental-rights termination proceedings. Justice Wood concurred on timeliness grounds, while Justices Danielson and Hart would have reached the ineffective-assistance claims and ordered a new adjudication hearing.