Doe Ex Rel. Doe v. Heim’s Empirical Analysis
1976
Citation profile
82 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 82 later decisions — most recently December 2015 · most notably Lee v. Lee (1984), White v. Sutherland (1978)
82 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.
Relationships
Relies on Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones · DeCoteau v. District County Court for the Tenth Judicial District · Fisher v. District Court of Sixteenth Judicial District of Montana in and for County of Rosebud Adoption of Firecrow · Duke City Lumber Company, Inc. v. Terrel · Huey v. Lente
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 82 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“"* * * [A]bandonment consists of conduct on the part of the parent which implies a conscious disregard of the obligations owed by a parent to the child, leading to the destruction of the parent-child relationship." This definition "* * * focuses on two questions has the parent's conduct evidenced a disregard for his parental obligations, and has that disregard led to the destruction of the parent-child relationship?" "The two elements of the test are interdependent; both must be established if there is to be legal abandonment. The mere fact that there is evidence of the relationship's destruction is of no consequence if it cannot be established that there was parental conduct which caused it." What is meant by "conscious disregard"? "Conscious" is defined in terms of "awareness" or "knowing". "Disregard" is defined in terms of "pay no attention to". A "conscious disregard" is a "knowing failure to pay attention"; "an awareness that one is not paying attention". What is meant by "obligation owed by a parent to a child"? These obligations are the obligations "too [sic] personally care for, support, educate, give moral and spiritual guidance, and provide a home and that love and security which a home provides." A "conscious disregard of the obligations owed by a parent to the child" excludes acts which are beyond the control of the parent. The phrase includes acts within the parent's control and thus includes careless or negligent acts. No specific intent to disregard parental”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage“* * * [A]bandonment consists of conduct on the part of the parent which implies a conscious disregard of the obligations owed by a parent to the child, leading to the destruction of the parent-child relationship.”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage“In proceedings seeking the termination of parental rights, the grounds for any attempted termination must be proven by clear and convincing evidence. The clear and convincing evidence standard requires proof stronger than a mere "preponderance" and yet something less than "beyond a reasonable doubt." For evidence to be clear and convincing, it must instantly tilt the scales in the affirmative when weighed against the evidence in opposition and the fact finder's mind is left with an abiding conviction that the evidence is true. The function of the appellate court is to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party, and to determine therefrom if the mind of the factfinder could properly have reached an abiding conviction as to the truth of the fact or facts found. (citations omitted).”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.