Palmore v. Sidoti (466 U.S. 429)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 24, 1984 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 466 U.S. 429 · 104 S. Ct. 1879
- Decided
- April 24, 1984
- Term
- October Term 1983
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Burger
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Chief Justice Burger delivered the opinion of the Court. We granted certiorari to review a judgment of a state court divesting a natural mother of the custody of her infant child because of her remarriage to a person of a different race. I When petitioner Linda Sidoti Palmore and respondent Anthony J. Sidoti, both Caucasians, were divorced in May 1980 in Florida, the mother was awarded custody of their 3-year-old daughter. In September 1981 the father sought custody of the child by filing a petition to modify the prior judgment because of changed conditions. The change was that the child’s mother was then cohabiting with a Negro, Clarence Palmore, Jr., whom she married two months later. Additionally, the father made several allegations of instances in which the mother had not properly cared for the child. After hearing testimony from both parties and considering a court counselor’s investigative report, the court noted that the father had made allegations about the child’s care, but the court made no findings with respect to these allegations. On the contrary, the court made a finding that “there is no issue as to either party’s devotion to the child, adequacy of housing facilities, or respectability of the new spouse of either parent.” App. to Pet. for Cert. 24. The court then addressed the recommendations of the court counselor, who had made an earlier report “in [another]…
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