Dad sues to teach daughter about polygamy
Wednesday, December 10, 2003 Posted: 2:45 PM EST (1945 GMT)
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HALLAM, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Tracey L. Roberts isn't trying to stop her ex-husband from voicing his support of polygamy, a belief that broke up their marriage.
But she doesn't want him teaching their 10-year-old daughter, Kaylynne, about the practice or exposing her to it in any way. She's won her point in a lower court but now her ex-husband, Stanley M. Shepp, has taken the case to the state Supreme Court.
"Religious discussion in the home between a parent and a child has got to be the most sacred freedom-of-speech issue ever," Shepp said.
Counters Roberts: "It's not an organized religion -- it's in his mind. Polygamy's illegal everyplace, and it's illegal for a whole lot of reasons."
A judge in May 2002 granted Roberts and Shepp joint custody, saying Kaylynne would continue being raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
But Common Pleas Judge Stephen P. Linebaugh prohibited Shepp from "teaching (Kaylynne) about polygamy, plural marriages, or multiple wives," at least until she is 18.
Shepp's belief in polygamy, Linebaugh wrote, "if he would follow through with it, would be not only illegal in Pennsylvania, but would also be immoral and illogical. The issue is not having such a belief, but his interest in pursuing that belief, which the testimony indicates he clearly would."
Shepp's lawyer, Dann S. Johns, filed an appeal November 12 to the state Supreme Court. Roberts must respond by December 15.
Shepp and Roberts met in 1991 at a Mormon church in York -- both had converted to the religion as adults. They married the following year.
As Shepp's interest in polygamy grew, Roberts brought the matter to the attention of church elders. Eventually, the couple split, and the church excommunicated Shepp for his views.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints renounced polygamy in 1890 as part of a deal to grant Utah statehood, and the church now excommunicates those who practice or advocate it.
Shepp, who remarried after splitting with Roberts, said he is not currently seeking another wife or wives. But he says he is convinced his status in the afterlife depends on it and does not believe state law prohibits it.
The state Superior Court panel based its decision in part on a finding that exposing Kaylynne to polygamy posed a substantial threat to her.
Roberts' lawyer, Richard K. Konkel, said learning about polygamy from her father could put Kaylynne at risk of "child abuse and sexual abuse and whatever else."
"In a custody case, the best interests of the child is always paramount," Konkel said.
Shepp said if he loses in the state Supreme Court, he will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case. Johns wrote that he was unable to find a U.S. Supreme Court precedent directly addressing parent-child religious speech in a custody case.
Pennsylvania's law against bigamy bars married people from entering into an additional marriage. Among other things, Shepp's brief contends that taking a second wife in an informal "spiritual marriage," lacking legal documentation, would not run afoul of the bigamy statute.
CG