Ronald R. v. Jamie R.

—Two appeals have been taken from a judgment that granted a petition brought pursuant to Probate Code section 1516.5 (section 1516.5), to declare two minors, Emma and Noreen, free from the care, custody, and control of their biological mother and father, Raymond and Jamie, and granted the parents visitation rights. 1 The parents claim in their appeal that section 1516.5 is impermissibly vague and violates due process. They also argue that the minors were denied right to counsel in the case, an investigator’s report was not properly submitted, the evidence fails to support the termination of their parental rights, and the court failed to comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA; 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.). The guardians of the minors, Juliana and Ronald, who filed the petition, have also appealed from the court’s visitation order, in which they claim that the visitation rights granted to the parents were beyond the authority of the trial court and an abuse of the court’s discretion.

We find that section 1516.5 does not have any constitutional infirmities, no denial of the right to counsel occurred, any deficiencies in the investigator’s report were not…