The Supreme Court Case Of Michael H. V. Gerald D.

Many critics, including myself, believe that the United States Supreme Court incorrectly decided the case of Michael H. vs. Gerald D. The case was argued on October 11th, 1988 and the Court decided their stance on June 15th, 1989. The court decided that a father related by blood to his child that was also seen as adulterous, does not have the constitutional rights to paternity over the father who is married to the mother of said child. Contradicting this stance, many critics have stated their opinions on the matter. The decision that the Supreme Court should have made was to give the right to Michael H. to gain paternity over his daughter.

Gerald D. and his wife Carole had a daughter, or so he thought. Carole had a secret which was an affair with a man by the name of Michael H. Gerald’s name was on the birth certificate, however, the blood tests taken claimed that Michael was the father. Michael argued to the Court that he has the right to be in his daughter’s life no matter the circumstances. Gerald argued to the Court that a child born into a marriage is considered correct and traditional. He also argued that a child born from another man and raised with two fathers is frowned upon and identifies the child as illegitimate.

to be given the right to a fair trial under his entitlement. The 5th amendment clearly states “....nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…”, which means that a fair procedure must be given to the citizen. The Supreme Court obviously ignored this statement from the Bill of Rights because the case was based solely on precedent and not on the Constitutional rights of a citizen of America. The Supreme Court handed over the right of paternity to Gerald D. rather than Michael H. because it was seen as untraditional. It was wrong, let me tell you