The passing of HB1129 goes against the laws set forth by the Supreme Court Of Virginia. Grandparents do not have rights to custody or visitation unless actual harm from not having contact with said grandparent can be proved. Furthermore, it has been repeatedly ruled that unless both parents have been deemed unfit or have been found guilty of abuse/neglect grandparents do not supercede the rights of a parent. These are the only factors that should be considered when looking at the right of a parent to choose who is or is not allowed in their children's rights, and parents have a longstanding protected civil liberty to make decisions in childrearing without the fear of government interference. Passing this bill will greatly harm the rights of parents all across the commonwealth and undermine their decision-making on the upbringing of their children. Please see Williams v. Williams, 501 SE 2d 417 - Va: Supreme Court 1998 Bottoms v. Bottoms, 444 SE 2d 276 - Va: Court of Appeals 1994 Malpass v. Morgan, 213 Va. 393 - Va: Supreme Court 1972 for some references as to how the Supreme Court views these rights to parents. Please Oppose the passing of this bill as it goes against laws already set in place.

Please do NOT support this bill. The VA Supreme Court has already said in Williams v. Williams that a court may not interfere in the parent-child relationship by ordering visitation with a non-parent over the parent's objection, absent a showing of "actual harm to the child's health or welfare without such visitation." This legislation does not acknowledge this burden of proof that grandparents must show.