Michael J., Appellant v. Arizona Department of Economic Security and Zachariah J., Appellees

Summary

The Arizona Supreme Court held that the statutory definition of abandonment in A.R.S. § 8-531.1 applies to severance actions involving married as well as unmarried parents, and that clear and convincing evidence supported terminating an incarcerated father's rights for abandonment where, for more than a year after the agency explained how to protect his parental status, he made no effort to respond to the dependency proceedings, obtain counsel or visitation, communicate with his son, or provide support. Affirming the severance on that ground, the court declined to decide the alternative grounds but offered guidance: sentence-length terminations require a case-by-case, multi-factor inquiry with no bright line, and a felony conviction proves unfitness only where it directly demonstrates substantial unfitness to parent rather than general character defects. It vacated the court of appeals' opinion, which had reversed on all three grounds. Chief Justice Zlaket concurred in the result but dissented in part, concluding the state failed to prove abandonment and criticizing ADES's failure to preserve or facilitate the parent-child relationship.