by Robert Imrie
The Associated Press, Dec. ’08
WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) – A judge Monday refused to dismiss reckless homicide charges against parents accused of praying instead of seeking a doctor’s care as their 11-year-old daughter died of untreated diabetes.
Marathon County Circuit Judge Vincent Howard rejected arguments that prosecuting Dale and Leilani Neumann violated their constitutional rights to freedom of religion and due process.
“The free exercise clause of the First Amendment protects religious belief, but not necessarily conduct,” Howard wrote in a 20-page decision.
Parents have a legal obligation in Wisconsin to project their children, care for them in sickness and do whatever may be necessary for their “care, maintenance and preservation, including medical attendance if necessary,” the judge said.
