Maine’s highest court has upheld a custody order preventing a mother from taking her daughter to a Westbrook church, rejecting her claim that the restriction violates her religious rights.
According to WMTW TV, Emily Bickford appealed a 2024 order giving the girl’s father, Matthew Bradeen, sole authority over her involvement with Calvary Chapel. A judge had determined that messages the child was exposed to at the church could damage her relationship with her father.
Bickford’s attorneys argued the order violated her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. But the Maine Supreme Judicial Court disagreed, saying the ruling was based on the harmful messages directed at the father — not on Christianity or the church’s beliefs.
The court upheld the lower court’s decision Tuesday.
Bickford’s attorney, Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, says the group plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case, arguing the ruling threatens parents’ religious freedom.
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