Child’s Best Interest Standard Trumps Hallucination Sanction

An Illinois court held that a child’s best interest is always paramount in a termination of parental rights case and takes precedence over a sanction for reliance on hallucinated cases.  Prior Maryland precedent recognizes that parental rights “sink to insignificance” before a child’s best interests.  Child’s Best Interest Trumps Sanction for Possibly Hallucinated Case Citation.  Courts have an independent obligation to the child, and one decision required a proffer and analysis before excluding testimony for a discovery violation. Maryland’s Special Rule for Discovery Sanctions in Child Custody Cases – cont.  “[P]rocedural defects should not be corrected in a manner that adversely impacts the court’s determination regarding the child’s best interests.”  Id. (citation omitted).