Cite as: 530 U. S. 57 (2000)
Stevens, J., dissenting
While I thus agree with Justice Souter in this respect, I do not agree with his conclusion that the State Supreme Court made a definitive construction of the visitation statute that necessitates the constitutional conclusion he would draw.4 As I read the State Supreme Court's opinion, In re Smith, 137 Wash. 2d 1, 19-20, 969 P. 2d 21, 30-31 (1998), its interpretation of the Federal Constitution made it unnecessary to adopt a definitive construction of the statutory text, or, critically, to decide whether the statute had been correctly applied in this case. In particular, the state court gave no content to the phrase, "best interest of the child," Wash. Rev. Code § 26.10.160(3) (Supp. 1996)—content that might well be gleaned from that State's own statutes or decisional law employing the same phrase in different contexts,
their son, the girls' biological father, would have had, had he been alive. "[T]he fact that Mr. Troxel is deceased and he was the natural parent and as much as the grandparents would maybe like to step into the shoes of Brad, under our law that is not what we can do. The grandparents cannot step into the shoes of a deceased parent, per say [sic], as far as whole gamut of visitation rights are concerned." Id., at 215. Rather, as the judge put it, "I understand your desire to do that as loving grandparents. Unfortunately that would impact too dramatically on the children and their ability to be integrated into the nuclear unit with the mother." Id., at 222-223.
However one understands the trial court's decision—and my point is merely to demonstrate that it is surely open to interpretation—its validity under the state statute as written is a judgment for the state appellate courts to make in the first instance.
4 Justice Souter would conclude from the state court's statement that the statute "do[es] not require the petitioner to establish that he or she has a substantial relationship with the child," 137 Wash. 2d, at 21, 969 P. 2d, at 31, that the state court has "authoritatively read [the 'best interests'] provision as placing hardly any limit on a court's discretion to award visitation rights," ante, at 77 (opinion concurring in judgment). Apart from the question whether one can deem this description of the statute an "authoritative" construction, it seems to me exceedingly unlikely that the state court held the statute unconstitutional because it believed that the "best interests" standard imposes "hardly any limit" on courts' discretion. See n. 5, infra.
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