Constitutional Law

Case Pits Parents' Religious Beliefs against State's Interest in Child Welfare

Wisconsin parents are facing criminal charges over their decision to refuse medical treatment for their daughter, who eventually died of complications from juvenile diabetes. The parents of Kara Neumann argue that their religious beliefs prohibited them from seeking medical care for their daughter and therefore they should not be prosecuted, The New York Times reports. The newspaper noted that a Wisconsin judge has ruled that the First Amendment does not shield the parents from prosecution. Judge Vincent Howard ruled that that Leilani and Dale Neumann will face trail in May and June separately on charges of reckless endangerment. “The free exercise clause of the First Amendment protects religious belief, but not necessarily conduct,” the judge wrote in his opinion ordering the couple to stand trial.   

Full post as published by ACS Blog on January 21, 2009 (boomark / email).