The United States Constitution as well as individual state constitutions guarantee due process of law and equal protection. Common law has established therein the fundamental rights to marry as well as the right to decide how to raise one's children. The resources below can help broaden your understanding of these contemporary issues.

Some of the following research reports and articles are accessible via the Internet. Others are not accessible on the web as they require a password, such as those law review articles found on Lexis Nexis and Westlaw. Articles may be found in your local library or law library.

Hubin, Donald C. Parental Rights and Due Process. 1 J.L. Fam. Stud. 123 (1999)
A discussion of the Constitutional guarantee to parental rights and how divorce and custody determinations have interfered.

Bozzomo, James W. Joint Legal Custody: A Parent's Constitutional Right in a Reorganized Family. 31 Hofstra L. Rev. 547 (2002)
The author explores the consitutional right to joint custody in a climate of growing divorce rates.

Massachusetts Case Law

Goodridge v. Dep't of Pub. Health, 440 Mass. 309 (Mass. 2003) (HTML format)
Landmark case in which the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts determined that to deny marriage licenses based on petitioner's sexual orientation was violative of the petitioner's equal protection and due process rights under the Massachusetts Constitution.

United States Supreme Court Cases

Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, 124 U.S. Ct. 2301(2004 (PDF format)
Father, an atheist, challenged his daughter's school's practice of reciting the Pledge of Allegience. The case was brought before the United States Supreme Court on a writ of certiorari. Having joint custody, the case hinged on whether the father had prudential standing to bring such a suit.

Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
(MS Word format)
Virginia statute banning marriages between couples of different races was determined to be unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Zablocki v. Redhail, 434 U.S. 374 (1978) (MS Word format)
United States Supreme Court Case in which a Wisconsin man was denied marriage license based upon a statute prohibiting marriage for those individuals who were in arrears on their child support payment. The Supreme Court determined that within the "zone of privacy" is the right to marry.