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344 Ill. App. 3d 345

Johnson v. Duncan

Appellate Court of Illinois

Decided November 20, 2003

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Appellate Court of Illinois · decided 2003-11-20

Cited by 6 later decisions — most recently August 2012

6 state decisions

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

““Surely, the majority is not suggesting that the courts may, under the guise of common law, do what has been explicitly disallowed by Wickham? The visitation agreement in this case was entered into based on a void statute and is therefore also void. It infringes on [the parent’s] fundamental right to raise his child and cannot be retroactively legitimized by reliance on resurrected common law principles.” M.M.D., 344 Ill. App. 3d at 349 (Slater, J., dissenting).”

quoted by 1 later decision, including 351 Ill. App. 3d 148 - Beurksen v. Graff

Relies on 199 Ill. 2d 309 - Wickham v. Byrne

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 2003-11-20

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

JUSTICE SLATER,

¶1dissenting:

¶2The majority acknowledges that subsections 607(b)(1) and (b)(3) of the Marriage Act, which authorize grandparent visitation, were intended to supercede the common law pertaining to grandparent visitation. The majority also recognizes that those statutory provisions were held unconstitutional in Wickham, 199 Ill. 2d 309, 769 N.E.2d 1, as interfering with a parent’s fundamental right to make decisions about his child. The majority even admits that “the constitutional principles outlined in Wickham apply to grandparent visitation in general.” 344 Ill. App. 3d at 348. Yet the majority nevertheless concludes that grandparent visitation is authorized under the common law. Surely, the majority is not suggesting that the courts may, under the guise of common law, do what has been explicitly disallowed by Wickham? The visitation agreement in this case was entered into based on a void statute and is therefore also void. It infringes on Johnson’s fundamental right to raise his child and cannot be retroactively legitimized by reliance on resurrected common law principles. I dissent.

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