A legal battle in Maine involving a mother’s right to take her daughter to church may reach the U.S. Supreme Court. This case presents complex issues around parental rights, religious freedom, and the power of family courts over children’s religious involvement during custody conflicts.
Emily Bickford contends that a court ruling preventing her from taking her daughter to church breaches her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. However, Maine’s highest court disagreed, citing the child’s well-being as the reason for the restrictions, not animosity toward religion.
Following this decision, Bickford’s legal team at Liberty Counsel intends to petition the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the ruling poses a significant threat to religious freedom and parental authority.
Who Is Emily Bickford?
Emily Bickford is involved in a prolonged custody battle with her former partner, Matthew Bradeen, concerning their teenage daughter. The case addresses not only typical parental disagreements but also issues of religious practice, medical decisions, and parental control.
The controversy centers on Calvary Chapel in Westbrook, Maine, where Bickford attends services. A Maine district court order from December 2024 restricts her from bringing her daughter to this church, granting Bradeen sole decision-making power regarding the child’s involvement with Calvary Chapel. The order allows the parents joint decision-making on other religious groups.
Bickford argues that this order unlawfully infringes upon her right to raise her daughter according to her Christian faith. Her legal team, led by Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver, views the matter as a fundamental constitutional rights issue.
Following the Maine Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling, Staver stated the decision undermines the First Amendment rights of a capable parent to raise a child within her Christian beliefs. Bickford’s supporters also claim her daughter wishes to attend church and maintain connections with church friends. Liberty Counsel argues that the restrictions have barred the child from participating in religious activities for nearly two years.
This case has garnered attention from religious-liberty groups as it questions court intervention in parental disagreements over a child’s religious upbringing. Newsweek has sought comments from Liberty Counsel.
Maine Supreme Court’s Decision
On September 1, Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court upheld the lower court’s order. The court rejected Bickford’s constitutional arguments, indicating that the initial ruling adhered to family law principles.
The court clarified that the custody order was not opposed to Christianity. Instead, it highlighted concerns about negative messages causing harm to the child’s relationship with her father. The court found that the child received messages depicting Bradeen as an adversary and a threat to her and her faith.
This exposure, combined with Bickford’s failure to protect her child from such messages, risked alienating the daughter from her father. The court specified that its ruling should not be seen as an assertion against Christianity.
Judges emphasized the need to resolve parental disagreements about children, focusing on the facts before them. The ruling indicated that Bradeen’s approach prioritized the child’s welfare more than Bickford’s.
Will the Supreme Court Consider the Case?
Liberty Counsel plans to petition the Supreme Court to review Maine’s decision, emphasizing critical issues around parental rights and religious practice freedom. They argue that the lower courts unjustly penalized a mother for her faith-based practices, enabling governmental overreach into religious upbringing decisions traditionally made by parents.
The Supreme Court reviews few petitions annually, often focusing on significant constitutional issues or conflicting court decisions. Bickford’s lawyers are likely to argue that this case intersects with various Supreme Court precedents on religious liberty and parental rights. Staver asserts that Maine’s ruling conflicts with other state court decisions on custody issues involving religion, necessitating Supreme Court intervention.
Opponents will probably cite the Maine court’s ongoing emphasis on the child’s emotional health, parental conflict impact, and alienation risk, rather than an objection to Christianity.
As it stands, Maine’s ruling is in effect. If the Supreme Court chooses to review this appeal, it could shape future court handling of family law, religious freedom, and parental authority in faith-related custody disputes. This case might become a focal point in upcoming Supreme Court discussions on religious liberty and family law.
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