A woman ordered by a lower-court judge not to expose her daughter to religion has appealed to the Maine Supreme Court.
The case is being watched closely by the Christian Broadcasting Network, which reported on it November 18.
“The state’s high court heard oral arguments last week in the case – a battle between judicial authority and parental rights,” CBN reports. “Liberty Counsel, a faith-based non-profit legal group, is representing Emily Bickford.”
Bickford is challenging a lower-court custody order issued a year ago prohibiting her from bringing her daughter to Calvary Chapel in Portland.
Bickford, who never married the father of her child, has had primary custody of the girl, with the father having visitation rights.
After the girl’s father found out she wanted to be baptized he went to court and got an order preventing her mother from taking her to church and reading her the Bible.
Portland District Court sided with the father and Liberty Counsel is now appealing what could be a precedent-setting case.
