Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Rifqa Bary's Parents Want Ohio Social Services To Screen Daughter's Christmas Cards
The Jawa Report last week reprinted a motion filed at the beginning of December by attorneys for Rifqa Bary, the 17-year old convert to Christianity who fled her Ohio family and went to Florida, saying she was afraid her father would kill her because of her conversion. She is now back in foster care in Ohio. (See prior posting.) The motion, by Rifqa Bary's parents, asks the Franklin County Common Pleas Court to enjoin their daughter's attorneys "from passing messages of third parties directly to the minor child without the approval and supervision of Franklin County Children Services." It also seeks to have any cards now in the possession of Rifqa or her attorney turned over to social workers. The Memorandum in support of the motion cites to "hate filled" websites, that are encouraging messages to be sent to Rifqa, through her attorney, under the guise of sending her Christmas cards. It refers in particular to this posting by Atlas Shrugs asking its readers to "Show Rifqa she is not alone. Send her a Christmas card. Tell her you are praying for her." A hearing on the motion is scheduled for Dec. 22.