License Suspension In Child Support Case Opposed on Free Exercise Grounds

Today the Vermont Supreme Court will hear arguments in a religious freedom case, according to yesterday's Boston Globe. The Vermont Office of Child Support, acting under a court order, proceeded to suspend the driver's license of former Vermonter Joyce Stanzione who has not paid child support since she separated from her husband in 1991. Stanzione is a member of the Florida Twelve Tribes Messianic Community whose rules prohibit her from having an income. Her attorney says that Ms. Stanzione uses her car every day in church work she performs around the community. Stanzione argues that suspending her license because she has no income violates her First Amendment Free Exercise of Religion rights.