Free Exercise Claim In Custody Order Rejected

On January 10, in Annette F. v. Sharon S., a California appellate court rejected a free exercise claim challenging a child custody order entered in a dispute between a child's birth mother and his adoptive mother, who were formerly lesbian partners. The birth mother, who practices Orthodox Judaism as a member of a Chabad congregation, argued that the trial court's time-share order must be reversed because it interferes with her weekly observance of Shabbat with her son. The adoptive mother , who is Christian, wished to expose their son to Reconstuctionist Judaism on some Saturdays. The court held that the birth mother had forfeited her constitutional claim by not raising it earlier, and even if that is not the case, that the claim lacks merit. The court indicated approval of the trial judge's finding that exposing the child to multiple Jewish practices can provide him with a better sense of Jewish religion and tradition.