Judges find religion has more heft

[Amelia]

Judges find religion has more heft

Custody battle - A father loses plea for weekend hours in the Court of Appeals

Thursday, September 22, 2005

ASHBEL S. GREEN

The Oregonian

The Oregon Court of Appeals on Wednesday ruled that a mother's religious convictions outweighed a father's desire to spend regular weekends with his daughter.

The court said it was the first time it had tried to balance these competing interests. It seemed to limit the decision's scope by saying, "These kinds of issues must be decided on a case-by-case basis, depending on their peculiar facts."

The case involves a custody dispute between Amy B. Paradis and Steve T. McArthur, both Salem-area residents.

Never married, Paradis and McArthur had a child in 1992. Paradis had custody of the girl, but McArthur was involved with his daughter for most of her life and paid some child support. In 2001, he sought custody.

Before the custody trial, McArthur and Paradis agreed she should retain custody, but a dispute arose over parenting time.

Paradis, 33, and her daughter and other family members attend the Church of God, Body of Christ. They strictly observe the Sabbath, which, according to their religion, runs from sundown Friday and to sundown Saturday.

During the Sabbath, television and radio are prohibited, and travel is allowed only in order to worship.

A state custody evaluator recommended that McArthur, 34, have custody of his daughter on alternate weekends from sundown Saturday to Wednesday morning. He also recommended that the parents split alternate two-week periods during the summer.

McArthur objected to the weekend arrangement, saying it violated his constitutional parental rights and interfered with his ability to form a traditional family relationship.

McArthur said he wanted custody of his daughter, now 15, starting Friday night "in order for me to have a normal weekend," he testified at the trial court. "(We) can't go anywhereor do anything as a family unit. We're not able to go away for the weekend or do anything as such, or vacations."

Marion County Circuit Judge Dennis Graves agreed with McArthur, saying he thought that Paradis was placing her religious beliefs ahead of her daughter's interests.

The Court of Appeals reversed that ruling.

Writing for a three-judge panel, Judge Walter Edmonds said he recognized "the persuasiveness of father's argument that to permit child to continue her Sabbath practice could prevent her from developing a 'typical traditional relationship with her father and his family.' "

However, Edmonds noted more evidence on other side.

"The evidence indicates that consistency is important for child. Child has practiced mother's Sabbath observance her entire life. She expressed to her therapist her preference for being allowed to continue her practices," Edmonds wrote.

Weighing everything, Edmonds said, "the infringement on father's opportunity to develop what he has termed a traditional family relationship with child must yield to the stability and continuity afforded to child by mother's position."

Margaret H. Leek Leiberan, a Beaverton lawyer representing the girl's mother, said she thought her client would have won even without the testimony of the therapist and the custody evaluator. She agreed that the ruling does not mean the custodial parent's religious convictions trump other considerations.

"In some other jurisdictions, custodial parents control religion," Leiberan said. "I don't think that's the direction our court seems to be going."

The father's attorney, J. Michael Alexander of Salem, did not return a phone call seeking comment.