Parens Patriae History
This is to All, but Rick (Thoma) I couldn't resist this: your tagline Parens
patriae Resource Center for Parents.
A quote from "UNCLE SAM'S KIDS - Child Abuse and the Abuse of Power" by Allan
Carlson in the January 1993 issue of Chronicles:
"In 1839, that state's Supreme Court ruled that the Philadelphia House of
 Refuge could incarcerate a girl over her parents' objections and without
 formal legal proceedings.  The court based its decision on a new legal
 principle -parens patriae- or "the parenthood of the state." Under England's
 chancery laws, -parens patriae- had allowed the Crown to assume a parental
 role to protect the estates of wealthy orphans. But the Pennsylvania Court
 expropriated the term to justify the termination of parental rights..."
Thomas Fleming must have known what Carlson was writing, because from the 
ame
issue of Chronicles, Fleming says:
"As Allan Carlson points out, one key to the process of children's liberation
 is the concept of -parens patriae- , which can be used to justify state in-
 tervention not just in cases of real abuse but even when the choice is only
 between good and better environments for a child. Although the soft-on-crime
 Supreme Court justice Abe Fortas dealt a blow to the doctrine in his - In re
 Gault - decision, judges, legislators, and journalists still operate on the
 assumption that neither mother nor father really knows what is best for the
 child."
Rick, keep up your excellent work.
Reid Kimbrough---
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