Yesterday in
Shepp v. Shepp, (PA Sup. Ct., Sept. 27, 2006) (
majority opinion,
concurrence,
dissent) the Pennsylvania Supreme Court refused to order a divorced father to refrain from discussing his religious views that favor polygamy with his daughter whose custody he is sharing. The order was sought by the child's mother who divorced her former husband because of his beliefs in polygamy. The court said:
Based on the record before us, it is clear that the Commonwealth’s interest in promoting compliance with the statute criminalizing bigamy is not an interest of the "highest order" that would supersede the interest of a parent in speaking to a child about a deeply held aspect of his faith.... The state’s compelling interest to protect a child in any given case ... is not triggered unless a court finds that a parent’s speech is causing or will cause harm to a child’s welfare.
However Justice Baer dissenting argued:
It is imperative ... to distinguish matters of free expression from matters of immoral and criminal conduct. Where the former amounts to indoctrination into the latter, constitutional rights begin to yield to society’s interests in regulating such conduct.
The
Associated Press reports on the decision.
