Maine’s highest court has unanimously upheld a custody order giving a father final authority over whether his 13-year-old daughter may attend church with her mother, Emily Bickford. The dispute centered on Calvary Chapel Greater Portland, an evangelical congregation Bickford began attending with her daughter several years ago. The child’s father, Matthew Bradeen, objected after becoming concerned about teachings involving eternal punishment, fallen angels, spiritual warfare, the Rapture, and the Second Coming. Court records indicate the girl experienced anxiety and panic attacks and became concerned that family members who did not share her beliefs would be condemned. A lower court ultimately gave Bradeen final decision-making authority regarding the child’s involvement with Calvary Chapel and, when the parents cannot agree, other religious activities as well. On September 1, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed that ruling.
The constitutional battle centers on whether the ruling improperly interferes with Bickford’s First Amendment rights. Her attorneys with Liberty Counsel argued that a fit mother was effectively being punished for raising her daughter according to traditional Christian beliefs and objected to testimony from an expert who characterized Calvary Chapel as a “closed social system” and discussed it using the term “cult.” The Maine high court rejected the argument that the lower court had demonstrated religious hostility. Chief Justice Valerie Stanfill emphasized that both parents possess constitutional rights concerning their child’s upbringing and that courts sometimes must allocate decision-making authority when parents cannot agree. Significantly, the lower court itself said there had been “no showing of harm” associated simply with a belief system rooted in the Bible; it instead pointed to specific messaging and the breakdown of co-parenting. Liberty Counsel nevertheless argues the restrictions threaten parental and religious liberty and says it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.
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