Cite as: 519 U. S. 102 (1996)
Thomas, J., dissenting
A
We have indicated on several occasions in this century that the interest of parents in maintaining their relationships with their children is "an important interest that 'undeniably warrants deference and, absent a powerful countervailing interest, protection.' " Lassiter v. Department of Social Servs. of Durham Cty., 452 U. S. 18, 27 (1981) (quoting Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U. S. 645, 651 (1972)). Assuming that petitioner's interest may not be impinged without due process of law, I do not think that the Due Process Clause requires the result the majority reaches.
Petitioner's largest obstacle to a due process appeal gratis is our oft-affirmed view that due process does not oblige States to provide for any appeal, even from a criminal conviction. See, e. g., Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U. S. 12, 18 (1956) (plurality opinion) (noting that "a State is not required by the Federal Constitution to provide appellate courts or a right to appellate review at all" (citation omitted)); McKane v. Durston, 153 U. S. 684, 687 (1894) ("A review by an appellate court of the final judgment in a criminal case, however grave the offence of which the accused is convicted, was not at common law and is not now a necessary element of due process of law. It is wholly within the discretion of the State to allow or not to allow such a review. A citation of authorities upon the point is unnecessary"). To be sure, we have indicated, beginning with Griffin v. Illinois, that where an appeal is provided, States may be prohibited from erecting barriers to those unable to pay. As I described last Term in my concurring opinion in Lewis v. Casey, 518 U. S. 343, 368- 373 (1996), however, I believe that these cases are best understood as grounded in equal protection analysis, and thus make no inroads on our longstanding rule that States that accord due process in a hearing-level tribunal need not provide further review.
The majority reaffirms that due process does not require an appeal. Ante, at 110, 120. Indeed, as I noted above, it
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