Do Grandparents Have Rights?

• Position: Brief Article

In simpler times, Little Red Riding Hood set off by herself to visit her grandmother. Today she might have to bring along a lawyer.

In a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Jenifer and Gary Troxel of Washington state are suing for access to their granddaughters, Natalie, 10, and Isabelle, 8, which the girls' mother had restricted.

The Troxels' son, Brad, who was the girls' father, had committed suicide. When the girls' mother, Tommie Granville, later remarried, she and her husband allowed their children to visit the Troxels, but not as much as the Troxels wanted. The Troxels sued for visitation rights under Washington's grandparents' rights law, which permits visitation. In recent...