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Mom’s religion dominates custody hearing
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| Contributor | Servo |
| Last Edited | Servo Oct 11, 2007 01:55pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - Maryville Daily Times |
| News Date | Wednesday, October 10, 2007 07:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | A Maryville woman who went to court on Aug. 14 for a child custody hearing says she was persecuted because of her religious beliefs at the hands of the Blount County judicial system.
According to Jo Anne White, what was supposed to be a standard child custody hearing turned into an almost hourlong “Bible study” in the courtroom in spite of the repeated protests of her attorney, Kevin W. Shepherd.
After a detailed discussion of her religious beliefs — documented in court reporter transcripts obtained by The Daily Times — and a brief recess to chambers, Blount County Circuit Court Judge W. Dale Young awarded temporary custody of White’s two children to her ex-husband. The custody will be reviewed again in Circuit Court on Dec. 11.
While Young questioned White about one specific aspect of her religion, attorney Craig Garrett, who represented White’s ex-husband, asked numerous probing questions about her faith. Of the 65 pages of court transcripts reviewed by The Daily Times, 41 pages deal directly with White’s religious beliefs.
“We were discussing specific Scriptures and the details of end-times prophesy,” White said. “My attorney kept protesting, but the judge kept it going for almost an hour.
“At one point, I told the judge, ‘I didn’t write the Bible — so why are we discussing this?’
“He just wouldn’t stop, and I thought I would go to jail if I didn’t respond to his questions — so I went along with it even though I knew they were inappropriate questions.
“We talked about my religion for so long that I wasn’t even allowed to bring my witnesses to the stand.”
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