Child Custody Law
“Child Custody”
CLBA Journal 2002-05
Author: Oba Ernesto Pichardo
CLBA Journal 2002-05
Author: Oba Ernesto Pichardo
Although our animal offerings are
now constitutionally protected custody cases have become the single most
frequent issue in the nations courts. The growing trend throughout the nation
are child custody battles. Is our religious community prepared to handle these
cases? Our findings indicate serious flaws.
CLBA has been consulted in more than 25 cases. The pattern of allegation for claiming custody by one of the parents is amazing. In all but in two of the cases it has been the father claiming custody using "cult religion" Santeria and child exposure to "ritual killings" of animals. Based on allegation without evidence the courts have automatically awarded temporary custody to the parent presenting said claim. In some cases the court has automatically ordered a psychological evaluation on the child and custodial parent.
However, in all fairness claims for child custody in the name of religion is an old topic. The case load from various denominations is impressive. Our community in particular is now going through the burdens of mainstream society. Our constitutional protection regarding belief and practice does not overwrite other areas of litigation.
The Court
The laws may vary somewhat from State to State but they must be constitutionally consistent. The court will generally acknowledge that evidence of a parent's religious belief and practice is admissible but it cannot become the basis to award custody. These are some points that the court considers under the "best interest" of a child:
Conflict between the parents' beliefs if it is affecting the child's welfare.
Association to a particular religion if the beliefs are illegal, immoral, cause serious mental or bodily harm.
If the religious beliefs threaten the health and safety of a child.
State cannot require a citizen to attend any religious worship.
State cannot prefer one religion over another, or religion over non-religion.
Constitution allows limitations on individual liberties when there is compelling State interest.
The court can examine the secular ethical aspects that the parent will teach the child. However, it cannot serve as a pretext to probe into the parent's religion and degree of devotion.
Devotee Problems
Marriage may be established by the emotional experience of love and caring. In every case we have found that not one single party had contemplated taking measures in case of divorce. When love and caring becomes love for vengeance or hate, even the self interest of convenience creates havoc. Children our caught between the parent interest, the court view of best interest, however, the worst is when one parent adds allegations of "cult religion" to the puzzle. This provokes a court order forcing the child to a psychological evaluation including a physical examination. In some cases the parent with primary custody is also forced by the court to undergo the same. Moreover, the allegation goes beyond the dispute, it has an important impact on religion.
If harm is of concern, the court makes its mark on the family problem and on religion. Once a parent files the original complaint the madness begins. A parent may claim that the other parent is an abuser, is unfit, a cult worshipper, practices ritual killings of animals, or forces the child to participate in cult rituals with blood bathing and nudity. The parent claim doesn't need to be proven up front. The original complaint is only a formal request to the court of what the alleging parent wants the court to consider regarding child custody. What happens is that the court aims to protect the child's "best interest" and usually awards temporary custody to the parent making said claims automatically. In other words, the custodial parent is viewed as guilty before proof is presented to the court.
Other unexpected facts have occurred in some cases. A parent can claim rights if the child was baptized in a Christian denomination. The implied message to the court being Christianity serves the best interest of the child instead of that immoral dangerous cult. Therefore, the old tradition of some that still think dual baptisms are a Lukumi requirement, think again. If the child was baptized in Lukumi only this window for claim would not exist.
The following points are typical characteristics in our cases:
Temporary custody is awarded to the parent presenting the claim of cult rituals.
In most cases mother had the primary custody.
In all cases mothers did not have the financial means to hire legal representation.
In all cases State legal aide was denied to the mother.
In all cases mothers could not get pro-bono legal representation.
In most cases attorney's rejected defense of theses cases.
In all cases, parent's did not include provisions in the divorce settlement regarding the education and religion of the child.
In all cases, one parent after the divorce presents a claim seeking primary custody targeting religion as the shock point for the court to consider.
In most cases the mother did not seek alimony but obtained marginal child support.
In some cases the court has required a psychological and physical examination of the child looking for symptoms of abuse or trauma.
In some cases the mother has been ordered to have a psychological evaluation to determine her fitness.
What the Courts Have Done
The pattern so far is simple to detect. However, in two cases the courts have awarded the primary custody to mothers overruling the "cult religion" bloody animal killing claims. Courts have consistently been intimidating. They have mandated mediation before making a final decision regarding religion where coercion has been applied seeking a voluntary agreement to keep the child away from religious exposure, or they have outright ruled to remove custody based on other questionable allegations.
In all cases where psychological evaluation have been ordered, the recommendations to the courts have been against religion without evidence of child trauma or abuse. The trend is to suggest that children should not be exposed to ritual killing of animals. This means that the opinion oversteps the boundaries of science and presents a cultural bias placing a burden on our religion while it accepts other forms of animal killing. It is the old story where only our religion becomes demonized by the psychologist while they ignore other secular forms of killing animals. This kind of moral judgment is far reaching and the parent may file a compliant against the psychologist at the Department of Professional Regulations. The psychologist could lose their license.
Lawyers Need Education
Courts generally do not like to get involved in disputes regarding religion. Usually one parent will include in the claim other issues like the custodial parent lack of fitness. The trend with lawyers has been their level of ignorance or misinformation about our faith. In most cases the lawyer seeks proof that this is a religion before they even consider taking the case. Other possibilities have been asking for a large sum of retainer to discourage or rejected the case using some ridiculous excuse.
The fact is that lawyer's may know how to defend the religious dispute but they generally don't have a clue of what our faith is all about. They need education up front. Under ideal circumstances the lawyer can be educated during the drafting of the divorce papers before they get filed. That's the best time to consider religious matters, medical emergencies, including the child's education issues. This is very important to avoid future headaches in court.
However, in all of the cases these issues were not included in the divorce. Claims have been presented to the court some time after the divorce. This has placed the custodial parents' custody in jeopardy. The more educated the lawyer is, the better chance of success. Contact the American Bar Association and ask them for help finding experienced lawyer's in family law/divorce law. Let them know up front that religion is the primary portion of the dispute. Also contact your area American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU) or your local legal aid services. Be prepared to present information and documentation that educates the lawyer before making an appointment.
Any complaints filed with HRS should be handled by an attorney as well in the same manner. We've handled a few cases where HRS was used to evaluate the home environment. This is where a social worker goes to the home and interviews the custodial parent. The social worker will report observations of the home's physical condition as well. It is an invasive process. The findings may be subjectively formulated as a "recommendation" to the court and be anti-religion. Anti-religion language and so-called expert opinion of the social worker should be challenged.
Suggestions
We've provided two important references in our Journal. Print and use them as part of the documentation you will need to present.
Baptism - click on the "services" link in the table of content page.
Brief Statement Regarding Animal Sacrifice - in the religious liberty page.
Research - there are numerous web sites that provide excellent information.Contact Us - we may be able to provide guidance.
CLBA has been consulted in more than 25 cases. The pattern of allegation for claiming custody by one of the parents is amazing. In all but in two of the cases it has been the father claiming custody using "cult religion" Santeria and child exposure to "ritual killings" of animals. Based on allegation without evidence the courts have automatically awarded temporary custody to the parent presenting said claim. In some cases the court has automatically ordered a psychological evaluation on the child and custodial parent.
However, in all fairness claims for child custody in the name of religion is an old topic. The case load from various denominations is impressive. Our community in particular is now going through the burdens of mainstream society. Our constitutional protection regarding belief and practice does not overwrite other areas of litigation.
The Court
The laws may vary somewhat from State to State but they must be constitutionally consistent. The court will generally acknowledge that evidence of a parent's religious belief and practice is admissible but it cannot become the basis to award custody. These are some points that the court considers under the "best interest" of a child:
Conflict between the parents' beliefs if it is affecting the child's welfare.
Association to a particular religion if the beliefs are illegal, immoral, cause serious mental or bodily harm.
If the religious beliefs threaten the health and safety of a child.
State cannot require a citizen to attend any religious worship.
State cannot prefer one religion over another, or religion over non-religion.
Constitution allows limitations on individual liberties when there is compelling State interest.
The court can examine the secular ethical aspects that the parent will teach the child. However, it cannot serve as a pretext to probe into the parent's religion and degree of devotion.
Devotee Problems
Marriage may be established by the emotional experience of love and caring. In every case we have found that not one single party had contemplated taking measures in case of divorce. When love and caring becomes love for vengeance or hate, even the self interest of convenience creates havoc. Children our caught between the parent interest, the court view of best interest, however, the worst is when one parent adds allegations of "cult religion" to the puzzle. This provokes a court order forcing the child to a psychological evaluation including a physical examination. In some cases the parent with primary custody is also forced by the court to undergo the same. Moreover, the allegation goes beyond the dispute, it has an important impact on religion.
If harm is of concern, the court makes its mark on the family problem and on religion. Once a parent files the original complaint the madness begins. A parent may claim that the other parent is an abuser, is unfit, a cult worshipper, practices ritual killings of animals, or forces the child to participate in cult rituals with blood bathing and nudity. The parent claim doesn't need to be proven up front. The original complaint is only a formal request to the court of what the alleging parent wants the court to consider regarding child custody. What happens is that the court aims to protect the child's "best interest" and usually awards temporary custody to the parent making said claims automatically. In other words, the custodial parent is viewed as guilty before proof is presented to the court.
Other unexpected facts have occurred in some cases. A parent can claim rights if the child was baptized in a Christian denomination. The implied message to the court being Christianity serves the best interest of the child instead of that immoral dangerous cult. Therefore, the old tradition of some that still think dual baptisms are a Lukumi requirement, think again. If the child was baptized in Lukumi only this window for claim would not exist.
The following points are typical characteristics in our cases:
Temporary custody is awarded to the parent presenting the claim of cult rituals.
In most cases mother had the primary custody.
In all cases mothers did not have the financial means to hire legal representation.
In all cases State legal aide was denied to the mother.
In all cases mothers could not get pro-bono legal representation.
In most cases attorney's rejected defense of theses cases.
In all cases, parent's did not include provisions in the divorce settlement regarding the education and religion of the child.
In all cases, one parent after the divorce presents a claim seeking primary custody targeting religion as the shock point for the court to consider.
In most cases the mother did not seek alimony but obtained marginal child support.
In some cases the court has required a psychological and physical examination of the child looking for symptoms of abuse or trauma.
In some cases the mother has been ordered to have a psychological evaluation to determine her fitness.
What the Courts Have Done
The pattern so far is simple to detect. However, in two cases the courts have awarded the primary custody to mothers overruling the "cult religion" bloody animal killing claims. Courts have consistently been intimidating. They have mandated mediation before making a final decision regarding religion where coercion has been applied seeking a voluntary agreement to keep the child away from religious exposure, or they have outright ruled to remove custody based on other questionable allegations.
In all cases where psychological evaluation have been ordered, the recommendations to the courts have been against religion without evidence of child trauma or abuse. The trend is to suggest that children should not be exposed to ritual killing of animals. This means that the opinion oversteps the boundaries of science and presents a cultural bias placing a burden on our religion while it accepts other forms of animal killing. It is the old story where only our religion becomes demonized by the psychologist while they ignore other secular forms of killing animals. This kind of moral judgment is far reaching and the parent may file a compliant against the psychologist at the Department of Professional Regulations. The psychologist could lose their license.
Lawyers Need Education
Courts generally do not like to get involved in disputes regarding religion. Usually one parent will include in the claim other issues like the custodial parent lack of fitness. The trend with lawyers has been their level of ignorance or misinformation about our faith. In most cases the lawyer seeks proof that this is a religion before they even consider taking the case. Other possibilities have been asking for a large sum of retainer to discourage or rejected the case using some ridiculous excuse.
The fact is that lawyer's may know how to defend the religious dispute but they generally don't have a clue of what our faith is all about. They need education up front. Under ideal circumstances the lawyer can be educated during the drafting of the divorce papers before they get filed. That's the best time to consider religious matters, medical emergencies, including the child's education issues. This is very important to avoid future headaches in court.
However, in all of the cases these issues were not included in the divorce. Claims have been presented to the court some time after the divorce. This has placed the custodial parents' custody in jeopardy. The more educated the lawyer is, the better chance of success. Contact the American Bar Association and ask them for help finding experienced lawyer's in family law/divorce law. Let them know up front that religion is the primary portion of the dispute. Also contact your area American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU) or your local legal aid services. Be prepared to present information and documentation that educates the lawyer before making an appointment.
Any complaints filed with HRS should be handled by an attorney as well in the same manner. We've handled a few cases where HRS was used to evaluate the home environment. This is where a social worker goes to the home and interviews the custodial parent. The social worker will report observations of the home's physical condition as well. It is an invasive process. The findings may be subjectively formulated as a "recommendation" to the court and be anti-religion. Anti-religion language and so-called expert opinion of the social worker should be challenged.
Suggestions
We've provided two important references in our Journal. Print and use them as part of the documentation you will need to present.
Baptism - click on the "services" link in the table of content page.
Brief Statement Regarding Animal Sacrifice - in the religious liberty page.
Research - there are numerous web sites that provide excellent information.Contact Us - we may be able to provide guidance.
