Home > Great American Court Cases > Santosky v. Kramer

Legal Citation: 455 U.S. 745 (1982)

Petitioners
John and Annie Santosky

Respondent
Kramer, Commissioner of Dept. Social Services, Ulster County

Petitioners' Claim
Fair preponderance of evidence is unconstitutional when used to terminate parental rights.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioners
Martin Guggenheim

Chief Lawyer for Respondent
Steven D. Scavuzzo

Justices for the Court
Harry A. Blackmun (writing for the Court), William J. Brennan, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., John Paul Stevens

Justices Dissenting
Warren E. Burger, Sandra Day O'Connor, William H. Rehnquist, Byron R. White

Place
Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision
24 March 1982

Decision
Fair preponderance violates due process guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.