Q: Is there a case in Maryland were the Grandparents filed for visitation while one parent was incarcerated, and they won?
A:
Maryland Family Law Code 9-102 allows for grandparent visitation in the best interest of the child; however, it is limited by the Cnstitutional rights of the biological parents to control decisions regarding their children. The Supreme Court of Maryland (formerly called the Maryland Court of Appeals), has held that there must be a finding of either parental unfitness or exceptional circumstances demonstrating the current or future detriment to the child, absent visitation from his or her grandparents, as a prerequisite to then aplying the "best interests of the child" analysis to allow such visitation over the objections of the biological parent. However, in your factual scenario, one of the biological parents can join in the petition on behlf of his parents (the grandparents of his child), so they are not acting solely as third-party petitioners. This may change the dynamic signoficantly, since the incarcerated parent has no means to exercise visitation on their own, and his children are being deprived of the love, support, guidance and familiarity of their paternal side of the family.
Read the 2007 court opinion in Kosko v. Haining to get a full understanding of what the considerations ae in such a case, link here:
https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11358273946206600717&q=398+Md.+404%C2%A0&hl=en&as_sdt=20000006
Litigation over grandparent visitation can be complicated, and you should retain counsel to assist you in any such case.
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