The Washington State Supreme Court affirmed the termination of a mother’s parental rights, holding it hadn’t been a Fifth Amendment violation for the court to “draw a negative inference from the mother’s refusal to answer specific questions about her drug use.”
According to the high court’s March 30 opinion, the cased originated when a trial court sought to terminate the plaintiff’s parental rights after the woman’s child was removed from her care over drug-related issues and placed with the child’s biological grandparents. The trial court sought this action after the grandparents allegedly expressed wanting to adopt the 19-month old.
