Prominent Law Prof: ‘State Should Take Over the Legal Parental Role of Children’

William and Mary law professor, and public policy influencer James G. Dwyer believes the state is the ultimate authority over children.

It is readily apparent from his writings that he values “children’s rights,” but the basic inherent right of any child to have a relationship with their own biological parents seems to elude him. He even believes that it is the right of the state to choose the parents for a child.

In his article, “A Constitutional Birthright,” Dwyer argues:

Courts should recognize that newborn babies, much more clearly than birth parents, have fundamental interests at stake in the state’s selection of legal parents and, therefore, a much stronger claim to constitutional protection.

Here is where the case gets tricky. There is a line between the state trying to take all children and the state intervening on the behalf of children who are being abused.

Not all homeschooling parents actually teach their children. I personally know many (adults now) that struggle to as much as conduct simple math, and can barely read. They feel trapped, hopeless, and stuck doing manual labor. It is ridiculous to assume all homeschool children are being taken care of, let alone nurtured. Furthermore, these types of parents are also far more likely to use severe corporal punishment.

Ironically the outcome is almost the same as if the state were involved. You end up with uneducated adults trained from infancy to bend over to authority.

Which brings up a darker more cold and objective point – if the outcome is going to be similar in the 1-10% of homeschool children used as the example case for exerting stronger state control of parental rights – why bother standing up for the 1-10% at the expense of the 90%?

That is overall the mindset of people opposing Professor Dwyer and his associates.

It is readily apparent from his writings that he values “children’s rights,” but the basic inherent right of any child to have a relationship with their own biological parents seems to elude him. He even believes that it is the right of the state to choose the parents for a child.

In his article, “A Constitutional Birthright,” Dwyer argues:

Courts should recognize that newborn babies, much more clearly than birth parents, have fundamental interests at stake in the state’s selection of legal parents and, therefore, a much stronger claim to constitutional protection.

His works were cited as sources for an article, “The Harms of Homeschooling,” by Robin L. West, published in Philosophy and Public Policy Quarterly.

The author sees homeschoolers as a threat to the state system, and says that the vast majority of referrals to Child Protective Services – 95% – come from public school teachers and administrators. (Note: The data we have found indicates that the figure was less than 20% in 2015, but school personnel still represent the largest group of reporters to CPS, followed by law enforcement, and medical personnel – Source.)

Source: Medical Kidnap