HOUSE
                           Final Reading
                      April 25, 2012Second Regular Session
              Sixty-eighth General Assembly
                    STATE OF COLORADO
                                                  ENGROSSED
                                                           
                                                           
 LLS NO. R12-0726.01 Beth Treat x4340            HJR12-1019
                    HOUSE SPONSORSHIP
 Murray, 
 
                   SENATE SPONSORSHIP
 Scheffel, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 House Committees
 Senate Committees
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                  HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 12-1019 
       Concerning urging Congress to propose to the states for
            ratification an amendment to the United States
            Constitution regarding parental rights.
       
       
            WHEREAS, The right of parents to direct the upbringing and
       education of their children is a fundamental right protected by the
       constitutions of the United States and the State of Colorado; and
       
            WHEREAS, Our nation has historically relied first and foremost
       on parents to meet the real and constant needs of children; and
       
            WHEREAS, The interests of children are best served when parents
       are free to make child-rearing decisions about education, religion, and
       other areas of a child's life without state interference; and
       
            WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court in Wisconsin v.
       Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972), held that "This primary role of the parents
       in the upbringing of their children is now established beyond debate as an
       enduring American tradition"; and
       
            WHEREAS, However, the United States Supreme Court in Troxel
       v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000), produced six different opinions on the
       nature and enforceability of parental rights under the United States
       Constitution; and
       
            WHEREAS, This decision has created confusion and ambiguity
       about the fundamental nature of parental rights in the laws and society of
       the several States; and
       
            WHEREAS, Senator James DeMint of South Carolina and
       Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan have introduced in the United
       States Congress an amendment to the United States Constitution to
       prevent erosion of the enduring American tradition of treating parental
       rights as fundamental rights, which amendment reads:
       
            SECTION ONE: The liberty of parents to direct the
            upbringing and education of their children is a fundamental
            right.
            SECTION TWO: Neither the United States nor any State
            shall infringe upon this  right without demonstrating that its
            governmental interest as applied to the person is of the
            highest order and not otherwise served.
            SECTION THREE: No treaty may be adopted nor shall any
            source of international law be employed to supersede,
            modify, interpret, or apply to the rights guaranteed by this
            article; and
       
            WHEREAS, This amendment will add explicit text to the
       Constitution of the United States to protect in perpetuity the rights of
       parents as they are now enjoyed, without substantive change to current
       State or federal laws respecting these rights; and
       
            WHEREAS, Such enumeration of these rights in the text of the
       Constitution will preserve them from being infringed upon by the shifting
       ideologies and interpretations of the United States Supreme Court; now,
       therefore,
       
            Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Sixty-eighth
       General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein:
       
            That we, the members of the Colorado General Assembly, hereby
       affirm the Parental Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution
       as presented to the United States Congress by Senator James DeMint of
       South Carolina and Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan and as
       referenced herein; and
       
            That we urge the members of the United States Congress to
       propose the Parental Rights Amendment to the States for ratification.
       
            Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Joint Resolution be sent
       to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United
       States House of Representatives, each member of Colorado's
       Congressional delegation, the Governor of the State of Colorado, and the
       Attorney General of the State of Colorado.