¶1dissenting: I am unable to agree to the disposition made of this case. In a matter of this kind the determination of *12what is for the welfare and best interests of a child naturally covers a wide scope of inquiry. It is quite true that considerable evidence concerning the matter of religion was introduced, and also it is true that the subject was mentioned in the trial court’s findings and conclusions. I am in accord with what was held in Denton v. James, 107 Kan. 729, 193 Pac. 307, 12 A. L. R. 1146, to the effect that in a dispute relating to custody religious views afford no ground for depriving a parent of custody who is otherwise qualified, but I think it may not be said that here the trial court’s decision was based solely on the ground of religion. In fact, conclusions 1 and 2 make it clear that it was not. If a divorced parent’s extreme religious views and activities are such rs to result in emotional instability in such parent, then most certainly I feel that a trial court has not only the right, but the duty,' to take such fact into consideration in the determination of what appears to be the welfare and best interests of the child and to which parent custody should be granted. As I read this record, that, in reality, was what was done in this case. Custody matters always are difficult for trial courts. After a full-scale hearing a custody order was entered. I see nothing erroneous about it or anything that savors of an abuse of discretion. I would affirm the judgment.
181 Kan. 1
309 P.2d 705
Jackson v. Jackson
Decided April 6, 1957
Supreme Court of Kansas · decided 1957-04-06
Key passage — most relied on by later courts
“[T]he question of religion cannot be regarded by the court in determining the care, custody and control of minor children. The courts have no authority over that part of a child's training which consists in religious discipline, and in a dispute relating to custody, religious views afford no ground for depriving a parent of custody who is otherwise qualified.”
quoted by 3 later decisions, including Beebe v. Chavez, 6 Kan. App. 2d 921 - Anhalt v. Fesler
““Noting respondents’ objections to this judgment, it is urged that the welfare and best interests of the children were the paramount issue. Under the law of the land the welfare and best interests of children are primarily the concern of their parents, and it is only when parents are unfit to have the custody, rearing and education of children, that the state as parens patriae, with its courts and judges, steps in to find fitting custodians in loco parentium. “Putting the matter in another way, it is quite correct to say that the welfare of children is always a matter of paramount concern, but the policy of the state proceeds on the theory that their welfare can best be attained by leaving them in the custody of their parents and seeing to it that the parents’ right thereto is not infringed upon or denied. This is the law of the land on this subject. And it never becomes a judicial question as to what is for the welfare and best interests of children until the exceptional case arises where the parents are dead, or where they are unfit to be intrusted with the custody and rearing of their children and have forfeited this right because of breach of parental duty, or where the right has been prejudiced by the discord of the parents themselves. There are enough of the latter sort of cases where the courts are compelled to interfere and take the custody of children from unfit parents, or to decide which of quarreling parents should have that custody- . . .” (pp. 230, 231.)”
quoted by 1 later decision, including Vallimont v. Medford
Relies on Denton v. James
Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know
Decided 1957-04-06
How this case has been cited
Cited by 45 later decisions — most recently August 2011 · most notably Vallimont v. Medford (1958), 79 Wash. 2d 810 - Munoz v. Munoz (1971)
45 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
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