TRACING THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD STANDARD IN AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE

The best interests of the child doctrine is at once the most heralded, derided and relied upon standard in family law today. It is heralded because it espouses the best and highest standard; it is derided because it is necessarily subjective; and it is relied upon because there is nothing better. The doctrine affects the placement and disposition of children in divorce, custody, visitation, adoption, the death of a parent, illegitimacy proceedings, abuse proceedings, neglect proceedings, crime, economics, and all forms of child protective services. And in every case, a judge must decide what is “best” for any child at any time under any particular circumstance. That is a lot to ask of anyone. “In the modern era, the family courts of this country operate on the unwarranted premise that judges are capable of making fine-tuned judgments about a child’s best interests