Court Dismisses Challenge To Removal of Children From Tony Alamo Compound

In Tony Alamo Christian Ministries v. Selig, (WD AR, Feb. 2, 2010), an Arkansas federal district court dismissed a lawsuit charging that plaintiffs' constitutional rights of religious liberty were violated when certain children of members of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries were removed from their parents by child welfare officials and adjudicated dependent-neglected under state law in state court. Invoking the Younger v. Harris abstention doctrine, the court held that plaintiffs can raise their claims in ongoing dependency-neglect proceedings pending in state court. Yesterday's Washington Post reported on the decision.