Docket Nos. 92048, 92135 cons.-Agenda 26-January 2002.

VIRGINIA WICKHAM, Appellee, v. PAUL MICHAEL BYRNE, 
Appellant.-BRENT LANGMAN et al., Appellants, v. AMY
LANGMAN, Appellee.

JUSTICE FITZGERALD delivered the opinion of the court:

At issue in these consolidated cases is whether certainprovisions of section 607 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolutionof Marriage Act (Act), commonly called the grandparent visitationstatute, violate a parent's due process rights. See 750 ILCS5/607(b)(1), (b)(3) (West 2000).

BACKGROUND

The Wickham Petition

Paul Michael Byrne (Paul) and Lizabeth Wickham Byrne(Lizabeth) were married and had one child, J.B., born November7, 1997. Lizabeth died September 14, 1998. In her last will andtestament, Lizabeth expressed a wish for frequent visitationbetween J.B. and her mother, Virginia Wickham (Virginia). AfterLizabeth's death, Paul agreed to maintain the relationship betweenVirginia and J.B., often driving J.B. 50 minutes to Virginia'shome. Virginia, however, requested more time with J.B. and askedPaul to allow unsupervised overnight visits. Paul offered to driveJ.B. for visits when his schedule permitted, but refused to leaveJ.B. with Virginia unsupervised and overnight. Unable to resolvethe conflict, Virginia filed a petition in the circuit court of CookCounty for grandparent visitation under section 607(b)(1) of theAct. In her petition, Virginia requested mandatory overnightvisitation with J.B. two full weekends a month.

Initially, Paul moved to dismiss the petition based upondecisions of the United States Supreme Court and this court. SeeTroxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 147 L. Ed. 2d 49, 120 S. Ct.2054 (2000) (plurality opinion); Lulay v. Lulay, 193 Ill. 2d 455(2000). Paul argued that section 607(b)(1) of the Act violated thedue process clauses of the Illinois and United States Constitutions.U.S. Const., amend. XIV; Ill. Const. 1970, art. I,