A Maine mother has been prohibited by the state's highest court from taking her daughter to church, a decision that her legal representatives plan to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a lower court's custody order from December 2024, which prevents Emily Bickford from bringing her now 13-year-old daughter to Calvary Chapel in Westbrook. The ruling grants the child's father, Matthew Bradeen, the authority to decide whether the daughter attends religious services.
Bradeen had contended that the church constituted a "dangerous and harmful environment" for his daughter, citing instances where the child allegedly experienced anxiety and panic attacks after hearing sermons about the rapture. Bickford's attorneys, from the Christian nonprofit Liberty Counsel, argued that the initial court order infringed upon her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
In its published opinion, the court rejected Bickford's claims that the order was religiously biased, noting that it found the child was harmed by messages from Bickford or her associates characterizing Bradeen as an "enemy" and by Bickford's unwillingness to mitigate the risk of alienating the child from her father.
"The court's finding reflected simply that it is harmful for a child to hear negative and frightening messages about one parent from the other parent or the other parent’s authority figures," the court stated.
Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver has criticized the ruling, stating that denying a parent the right to instill their religious views and granting sole authority to the other parent undermines parental rights and religious freedom. The organization intends to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case and overturn the Maine court's decision, asserting that the implications pose a significant threat to religious freedom.