Monday, April 2, 2012
Tennessee mom faces jail for baptizing her children without her husband's consent
A Tennessee mothers, Lauren Jerrell, will be tried with contempt-of-court charges and possible jail time for baptizing her children without the consent of her ex-husband. The charges that are being brought up against her is that she violated a court order. In Tennessee the parenting plan, which the court said was violated by Jerrell, requires that both parents have to agree on religious upbringing of the child. Since Jerrell baptized the children without the fathers consent and knowledge she would be violating the parenting plan.
This case that is going to be seen by the Tennessee Supreme Court can be seen as either the court interfering with religious disputes between parents or the right of the parent to influence their child with their personal religion. One of the mother's attorney stated that since their was no personal harm to the children that the parenting plan is unconstitutional. That as a divorced parent Jerrell has the right to influence her children with her personal religion, which includes the baptism of her children. The father disagreed with this because he believed that the children were to young to be baptized.
This could either be seen as the court interfering with the religious freedom of parents to influence their children or that it was a simple violating of a court order. Since the First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." and since the parenting plan gives the court the authority to decide for the parent if they can't come to a mutual agreement is the problem in this case. Since the court order has to do with religious disputes between parents it can be seen as an interference of government in personal religion.
The Court of Appeals Judge Alan E. Highers said that this case with Jeller has nothing to do with religion but if their was a failure on the part of the mother to follow court orders they had to prosecute her for that and that only. It can be argued that this can be seen as a religion case where the courts would be major entanglement of religion and government. Through the First Amendment there should be neutrality in cases that involve religion and that through the establishment clause the court should remain neutral in all cases that pertain to religion.
How can a court rule on and issue that is a private matter that involves religious decision-making which the court should stay away from. The courts should remain neutral while the court here decided that since the mother chose to baptize the children against the fathers wishes she was in contempt of the court order. The parenting plan has complex wording that the law requires the court to become entangled with parental religious decision-making.
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