From Rogowski v. Kirven, decided last week by the Pennsylvania Superior Court, in an opinion by Judge Judith Ference Olson, joined by Judges Mary Jane Bowes and Mary P. Murray:
[T]he trial court … placed the following restriction on the Child's speech:
The parties shall not encourage the Child to refer to anyone other than the parties as Mother, Mom, Father, Dad, [et cetera.] In the event the Child refers to a party's spouse or significant other in such a way, that party shall correct the Child.
… [W]e find this restriction to be a content-based restriction because the purpose of the restriction was to limit the message that the Child conveyed through use of the terms "Mom" or "Dad" to denote a biological, familial relationship with the person rather than a non-biological, familial relationship as exists in the case of a step-parent. Therefore, this restriction is subject to the strict scrutiny standard.
