Trenton, USA - The primary guardian should choose a child's religious upbringing, a New Jersey appeals panel ruled yesterday in siding with a divorced Jewish father who did not want his children to attend classes about his former wife's Catholic faith.
The ruling, which overturns a lower-court decision in Sussex County, gives Howard Feldman the sole authority to determine his three children's religious schooling.
Bridget Howell had wanted the children to attend Catholic classes while they visited her, but the court said that was not her decision to make since Feldman took primary custody in 2001.
"Allowing the noncustodial parent to formally educate the children in a second religion... runs contrary to the right that the primary caretaker has to educate the children in the religion of his choice," the court wrote. "... It is implicit in protecting the primary caretaker's right to raise and educate his children in his chosen religion to prevent others from simultaneously educating the same children in an alternate religion."
The court did rule that the children could celebrate Howell's religious holidays and attend church with her during visits with their mother.
The religious spat began in September 2002 when Howell asked a state Superior Court judge to order that her children attend Catholic education classes. The judge agreed and said Howell had to enroll the one son old enough for the schooling in classes during her visitations on weekdays. She instead enrolled him on Sundays, despite Feldman's having custody every other weekend.
Neither an attorney for Feldman nor one for Howell could be reached for comment yesterday.