Houston-Area Inmate’s Parental Rights Challenged Over Risk, Not Harm

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that a Houston-area father's criminal history alone is enough to justify terminating his parental rights, even though he did not directly harm his son.

The father, whose identity is not disclosed in court documents, has spent most of his son’s life behind bars. He was incarcerated when the child, referred to as N.L.S., was born in 2015. The state’s highest court found that the father's ongoing criminal behavior and absence created a substantial risk of harm to the child.

“There is no evidence that Father took any measures to contact N.L.S. before the Department initiated these proceedings or to be part of decisions regarding N.L.S.’s well-being while incarcerated,” the court stated.

However, the justices sent the case back to a lower appeals court to decide whether ending the father’s rights is in the child’s best interest.

A Case of Endangerment Without Direct Harm

The father has been convicted of 12 crimes since 2008. While none of the charges involved N.L.S. or the boy’s mother, two were family violence charges. In one case, he was arrested for meth possession the same day he visited his son.

In 2021, child welfare authorities removed N.L.S. and his brother from their mother’s home after the child was repeatedly seen by neighbors hungry and in dirty clothes.

Court records show the father initially claimed the mother was unfit and he had cared for the child. Later, he changed his story, stating the mother was attentive and had a clean home.

The Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) did not require the father to complete any programs. He said he was trying to follow parenting instructions in prison and had asked for video visits with his son — a claim a CPS caseworker disputed.

The father admitted he did not know basic facts about his son’s life, such as his grade in school or favorite food. He also acknowledged he could not provide a stable home.

Broader Impact on Texas Family Law

Under Texas law, parental rights can be terminated if a parent endangers a child’s physical or emotional well-being. The court reaffirmed that this does not require proof of direct harm. Instead, a pattern of risky behavior — like serious criminal conduct — can be enough.

“Father’s criminal conduct has prevented him from seeing N.L.S. since he was three years old, endangering N.L.S.’s physical and emotional well-being,” the justices wrote.

This decision may widen how courts interpret endangerment. Law professor Chanté Brantley of Southern Methodist University noted that the ruling could cover “a lot of things parents do that may not directly cause harm to a child but could be endangering.”

Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock dissented, warning that courts should not rush to sever parental ties unless clearly necessary. “An overabundance of successful appeals by parents whose rights have been terminated is not among [the] problems” of the child welfare system, he wrote.