Stanley v. Illinois
United States Supreme Court
405 U.S. 645 (1972)
Relevant factsFree
Unmarried father Stanley (defendant) raised three children with Joan Stanley over 18 years, and when she died, Illinois (plaintiff) automatically removed the children from his custody and made them wards of the state based solely on his unwed status, without the fitness hearing that married parents, divorced parents, and unwed mothers would have received in the same circumstances.
IssueFree
Whether a state may deprive an unmarried father of custody of his children solely on the basis of his children's illegitimacy, without a hearing on his fitness as a parent.