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Rifqa Bary Case Moves Ahead As Her Lawyers Wait For Her To Turn 18

By Howard M. Friedman

There have been new developments in the case of Rifqa Bary, the Ohio teenager who fled from her parents' home to a pastor in Florida, saying she feared her father would kill her because she had converted from Islam to Christianity. The 17-year old girl is now in foster care in Ohio. The Christian Science Monitor reports that an Ohio judge has approved a recommendation by an Ohio Children's Services Board caseworker (see prior posting) that calls for Rifqa and her family to discuss their views of religion with each other as a first step toward reunification. However the judge did not order the girl and her parents to meet face-to-face. Rifqa's lawyers want her to remain in foster care until she turns 18 and is legally entitled to make her own decisions. On Tuesday, the parents' lawyer also withdrew a motion they had filed seeking to have Christmas cards that were being sent to Rifqa screened by social workers. (See prior posting.)

Full post as published by Religion Clause on December 24, 2009 (boomark / email).