Open letter to Steven Shapiro of the ACLU concerning seizure of kids from Tony Alamo church parents

Parents will lose these children if we don't act. Copyright TAM.

October 16, 2009

Mr. Steven Shapiro
Legal Director
ACLU
125 Broad St.
18th Floor
NY, NY 10004

Dear Mr. Shapiro,

On October 27, a number of parents in Arkansas may permanently lose custody of their children because they refuse to make a choice between their religious beliefs and their children. You probably have heard about this case, but in the off chance you haven't, here is a brief summary.

In two raids in September and November of 2008, thirty-six children whose parents are members of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries Church in Fouke, Arkansas were taken into custody by the Arkansas Department of Human Services. It appears that the only "crime" the parents committed was they were associated with evangelist Tony Alamo, who was convicted this summer on sexual offenses and is waiting sentence.

This case is almost identical to the case of the mass seizure of children from the FLDS Church in Texas earlier in 2008. In both cases, the leader of the church was accused of polygamy and sexual offenses against children, and in both cases all of the children were removed from the church, regardless of whether or not there was any evidence they were abused.

There are some major differences between the two cases, however. The first one is that while the Texas ACLU came to the aid of the FLDS parents, the Arkansas ACLU has not come to the aid of the parents of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. This is why I am writing to you. I believe that the Arkansas ACLU needs to get involved in this case. If not then I believe strongly that the national ACLU needs to get involved.

While fewer children were removed from the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries Church than from the FLDS church and the media paid less attention to the Tony Alamo Church raid, the removal of children from the Tony Alamo Church is actually a more egregious violation of civil and religious liberties. In Texas, the FLDS members while living in separate houses, all lived in one compound. In the Tony Alamo Church, some of the parents did not live on church property but lived in their own houses away from church property.

In Arkansas, unlike Texas, a judge has stated that the parents of children seized from the Tony Alamo Church, who work fulltime for the church and live on church property, must move off church property and obtain secular employment in order to regain custody of their children.

At least two families have refused to do this, believing that they are being asked to chose between their children and their religion. Two fathers have sued for an injunction in Federal Court in Texarkana but Judge Harry Barnes has not acted on the suit. Both of these fathers have worked fulltime for the church for years. They believe it is their religious duty to continue in this capacity.

None of the parents have been charged in criminal court. They deny the charges of neglect that have been brought against them in family court. It has been difficult to even ascertain what all of the charges are because the Miller County Family Court Judge, Joe Griffin, issued a gag order last year, which has made it almost impossible for the parents to discuss their cases with anyone.

However, an affidavit filed in federal court revealed some of the charges. Not only do the parents deny them all, most of the charges are mild indeed. They certainly don't call for the termination of parental rights. Two of the charges include not vaccinating their children (the parents have received a religious exemption from the State of Arkansas), and educational neglect (the children go to a school run by the church and have tested above their grade level while in foster care).

CPS Legal Watch (http://www.cpswatchlegalteam.com/index.htm) has hired Florida civil rights attorney Phillip Kuhn to help defend these parents. Kuhn is a good attorney and has done a good job, but I believe that his case would be strengthened if the ACLU at least filed an amicus brief on behalf of the parents as the Texas ACLU did on behalf of the FLDS parents.

I have no connection with the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. I disagree with many of their beliefs. However, I believe that the mass seizure of children from the church, children who were not abused or neglected, and the subsequent plan for reunification (i.e. leave the church and obtain secular employment) is unprecedented. From a civil liberties point of view, I believe this case is more serious than the FLDS one, even though fewer children were taken into custody, and therefore needs attention paid to it.

I respectfully request that you at least look into this case and see if it warrants the attention that I believe it does.

Thank you for reading this letter and considering my request.

Sincerely,

Daniel T. Weaver
Albany CPS & Family Court Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/x-14537-Albany-CPS-and-Family-Court-Examiner

cc: ACLU of Arkansas
904 West 2nd Street
Little Rock, AR 72201

Note to readers: I am mailing this letter via certified mail to the national office of the ACLU and sending a copy to the Arkansas ACLU. Please feel free to copy this letter and redistribute it on any website or blog or in any publication. Please include a link to this page. Consider writing your own letter in support of these parents and children to both the national office of the ACLU and the Arkansas ACLU. Neither site is set up to handle email. You can phone the Arkansas ACLU at 501-374-2660. You can contact the national office here. Please followup with a letter. A letter carries more weight today than it ever has because people write so few of them. For those of you in Arkansas, please contact your state and national representatives about this case. This case is not about whose religious views are right. It is not about religion versus atheism or secularism. This case is not about Tony Alamo. This case is about the unconstitutional removal of children from their parents, simply for associating with a church.