Family Law

Dad in contempt for taking daughter to church?

By Robert M. Kisselburgh, Esq.

Constitutional showdown expected over Judge's ruling prohibiting father from taking daughter to church

An Illinois man going through a divorce was ordered by the Court not expose his daughter "to any other religion than the Jewish religion during his visitation." Seems Dad, who is Catholic, wanted to test this order and took his three-year-old daughter to Holy Name Cathedral. Another judge will now rule on whether he should be held in contempt for violating the court's order.

However, a Motion to Dismiss filed by the father's attorney argues that the Order is vague as it fails to define what encompasses the "Jewish religion". The law is clear that in order to be held in contempt, it must be clear what they were prohibited from doing. More importantly, the motion argues that the Court is unable to make the determination as to what constitutes "Jewish religion" as a result of the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine. Essentially, this doctrine prohibits a court from examining matters of religious doctrine as they are protected from government interference by the First Amendment to U.S. Constitution. Thus, the Court cannot say what is or is not the Jewish religion. And if it cannot determine what is the Jewish religion, then it cannot determine whether the father violated the court order.

I imagine the Court's ruling will not be the last we hear of this case. The story was previously on the news. See the video below.

Reported by Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Divorce Attorney

Full post as published by Mississippi Family Law Blog on March 05, 2010 (boomark / email).