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Opinion of O'Connor, J.
Justice O'Connor announced the judgment of the Court and delivered an opinion, in which The Chief Justice, Justice Ginsburg, and Justice Breyer join.
Section 26.10.160(3) of the Revised Code of Washington permits "[a]ny person" to petition a superior court for visitation rights "at any time," and authorizes that court to grant such visitation rights whenever "visitation may serve the best interest of the child." Petitioners Jenifer and Gary Troxel petitioned a Washington Superior Court for the right to visit their grandchildren, Isabelle and Natalie Troxel. Respondent Tommie Granville, the mother of Isabelle and Natalie, opposed the petition. The case ultimately reached the Washington Supreme Court, which held that § 26.10.160(3) unconstitutionally interferes with the fundamental right of parents to rear their children.
I
Tommie Granville and Brad Troxel shared a relationship that ended in June 1991. The two never married, but they had two daughters, Isabelle and Natalie. Jenifer and Gary Troxel are Brad's parents, and thus the paternal grandparents of Isabelle and Natalie. After Tommie and Brad separated in 1991, Brad lived with his parents and regularly brought his daughters to his parents' home for weekend visitation. Brad committed suicide in May 1993. Although the Troxels at first continued to see Isabelle and Natalie on a regular basis after their son's death, Tommie Granville inand Education Fund et al. by Patricia M. Logue, Ruth E. Harlow, and Beatrice Dohrn; for the Society of Catholic Social Scientists by Stephen M. Krason and Richard W. Garnett; and for Debra Hein by Stuart M. Wilder.
Briefs of amici curiae were filed for the Center for Children's Policy Practice & Research at the University of Pennsylvania by Barbara Bennett Woodhouse; for the Domestic Violence Project, Inc. /Safe House (Michigan) et al. by Anne L. Argiroff and Ann L. Routt; for the National Association of Counsel for Children by Robert C. Fellmeth and Joan Hollinger; and for the Northwest Women's Law Center et al. by Cathy J. Zavis.
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