The child welfare system has to respect the religious beliefs of parents while making sure the child remains the top priority.
And this means that sometimes the judges in our courts have to shift their perspectives from time to time.
Like in this case.
The 29-year-old mother was catatonic and hadn’t eaten or slept in seven days — and neither had her 1½-year-old baby, a relative had reported to the state's child-abuse hot line, reports the Naples Daily News.
The mother was taken from her grandmother’s East Naples home and committed to a mental health center — but relatives removed her without doctors' approval so that she could have “Voodoo treatment,” reports the Naples Daily News.
The docs wanted to treat her with medication.
Her brother later downplayed Voodoo, which was granted official religious status in Haiti in 2003. He explained that they were Haitian and their pastor was praying day and night to remove the 13 devils inside Darlene Montreuil — leaving only one remaining as of last week, reports the Naples Daily News.
The judge questioned how the baby could be alive, but a lawyer with the Guardian ad Litem program assured him it was only the mother who wasn’t sleeping or eating. The baby girl was safe, happy and thriving in the care of relatives, reports the Naples Daily News.
A Department of Children & Families lawyer acknowledged that the baby was healthy and well-nourished, but asked acting Circuit Judge Mike Carr, “Is there a way to know the mother will not be reunited with the child while possessed by demons?” reports the Naples Daily News.
This case does have a safety net: Mom still must undergo a DCF case plan before being reunited with her baby.
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