Kingsley v. Kingsley - Significance, A Child As A Person, Improper Parental Comparisons, Impact, Further Readings

Kingsley v. Kingsley - Significance

The court held that a minor child does not have the capacity to terminate parental rights on his own behalf. However, because a petition for termination was filed on Gregory's behalf by other parties, termination was allowed. In effect, the court allowed Gregory Kingsley to "divorce" his natural mother. The case was part of a trend in courts deciding more frequently in the best interest of the chi…

Kingsley v. Kingsley - Further Readings

Kingsley v. Kingsley - A Child As A Person

In 1992, Gregory Kingsley, at 11 years of age, was living in foster care while his poor and unemployed mother, Rachel, had lived for two years in Missouri without trying to contact him. His parents were divorced and his brother, Jeremiah, was in foster care suffering from the neurological disorder, Tourette's syndrome. When the Missouri Department of Human Resource Services recommended that Gregor…

Kingsley v. Kingsley - Improper Parental Comparisons

The third issue involved the adoption order. Rachel Kingsley argued the district court should not have tried the termination and adoption cases simultaneously. Such action by the court violated her rights to procedural due process of the law. Mistakenly, according to Rachel, the court had shifted its focus from the abandonment and neglect issue to comparing her parenting skills with those of the p…

Kingsley v. Kingsley - Impact

Gregory became the topic of talk shows and two movies made for television. His story encouraged other children to seek legal help with their problems and raised hopes of foster care parents interested in adopting children with no legal guardians. The increased reporting of child abuse incidences throughout the nation, often in high-profile news stories, greatly supported efforts to recognize child…