Judges must clear a high bar to separate parents from children forever, Texas Supreme Court rules

A Houston mother barred from seeing her three children because of a lifetime protective order will have her case reheard after a Texas Supreme Court ruling Friday.

The ruling makes clear the high bar of proof needed to legally separate children from their parents for more than two years — in this case, forever.

“An order prohibiting contact for such a lengthy duration profoundly interferes with a parent’s fundamental right to exercise care, custody, and control of her children,” Justice Jane Bland wrote on behalf of the court. “In that paramount sense, lengthy protective orders are similar to the government’s termination of parental rights.”

In an opinion released Friday, Bland held that such a long-term restriction on parental contact — similar to terminating parental rights — requires “clear and convincing evidence,” because it interferes with a constitutional right: a parent’s right to care for and communicate with their children.

A preponderance of evidence is used when proving something is more likely to be true than not true and is used when issuing civil protective orders lasting two years or more. Terminating parental rights requires a higher burden of proof — trial courts must find the evidence “clear and convincing.”

Holly Draper — an attorney for the mother, Christine Stary, told KERA News in an email the court's ruling is a landmark decision for parental rights.

"This case changes the standard for protective orders over two years as to a parent against a child to include the constitutionally required burden of clear and convincing evidence," Draper said. "Now, vindictive parents can no longer use the protective order process as a backdoor around the rigorous requirements of termination."

The trial court originally issued the protective order against Stary after her arrest on felony family violence charges in 2020.

Court documents allege in March 2020, Stary had grabbed her then 9-year-old son by the back of his head, beat his face on the hardwood floor and carpet, then continued to beat his bruised face as his nose began to bleed. Stary was arrested and charged with injuring a child, a third-degree felony.

Stary’s ex-husband, Brady Ethridge, pushed for a protective order of longer than two years. A Harris County district court judge issued a lifetime protective order by the end of that year. That meant Stary would not be allowed to see or directly contact her kids indefinitely, something her attorney argued Stary wasn’t given notice of.

On Friday, the state Supreme Court remanded the case for a new hearing under the proper legal standard.

“Due process demands that clear and convincing evidence support such an order and an evaluation of whether prohibiting all contact between a parent and child for the duration of the order is in the child’s best interest,” Bland wrote.

Penelope Rivera is KERA's breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.

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