right of family integrity
right of family integrity. A fundamental and substantive due-process right for a family unit to be free of unjustified state interference. • While not specifically mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, this right is said to emanate from it. The contours of the right are nebulous and incompletely defined, but it at least includes the right to bear children, to rear them, and to guide them according to the parents’ beliefs, as well as the right of children to be raised by their parents free of unwarranted interference by state officials. The right restricts state action under the Fourteenth Amendment. Interference is not permitted in the absence of a compelling state interest and is reviewed under a strict-scrutiny standard. Most courts require a state to establish by clear and convincing evidence that interference in a familial relationship is justified. — Also termed right to family integrity. See PARENTAL-AUTONOMY DOCTRINE; PARENTAL-PRIVILEGE DOCTRINE . Cf. freedom of intimate association under FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION.
