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Friday, August 17, 2007
Court Rejects Mother's Demand For Christian Therapist In Custody Case
In Alameda County Social Service Agency v. K.H., (CA 1st Dist. Ct. App., Aug. 15, 2007), a California court of appeals rejected a mother's claim that her Free Exercise rights, as well as her statutory rights to "reasonable" reunification services, were infringed when a juvenile court failed to provide her with a Christian therapist after the mother's children were removed from her custody because of physical abuse. The court said: "Given mother’s varied and numerous objections to the referrals and her failure to attend her own appointments or to take her children to all of their appointments, the record supports a finding that this new request [for a Christian therapist] was nothing more than another tactic by mother to evade therapy...." The court said that her First Amendment argument "borders on the frivolous".