Religious freedom law used as defense for child abuse

[billvon 3,132]

Short summary: Woman beats 7 and 3 year old with wire coat hanger because they were playing doctor. Teacher notices the ~36 bruises on the 7 year old, informs authorities. Woman gets probation, citing Indiana's religious freedom law to justify the punishment. From WaPo:

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An Indiana mother who beat her son dozens of times with a coat hanger — and used the state’s new religious freedom law to justify the punishment — has been sentenced to a year of probation after pleading guilty to battery. . . .

In July, Thaing asked for the charges to be dismissed. Her defense attorney, Greg Bowes, argued in court records that Indiana’s religious freedom law protects her from prosecution.

The state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, was signed into law by Gov. Mike Pence (R) last year. The law says the government must first prove a compelling interest before it intrudes on someone’s religious liberty, and it must do so in the least restrictive way.

Thaing’s Christian beliefs were the “guiding values” that influenced her behavior when she punished her son, according to a motion to dismiss. It also cited verses from Proverbs 23:13-14: “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.”

The incident happened on Feb. 3, when Thaing became angry after she saw her son and 3-year-old daughter showing each other their genitals in the upstairs bathroom of the family’s home in Indianapolis, according to a probable cause affidavit. She hit both children with a hanger, but she told detectives that she didn’t hit her daughter as hard as she did her son. She then took the children downstairs and told them to pray for forgiveness.

Child services officials were alerted after the boy went to school one day. He flinched when his elementary teacher patted him on the back. Court records say he had 36 bruises on his back, arm and thigh, and a loop mark on his ear.

Bowes argued that Thaing felt she needed to take “strong corrective action” to save her daughter from her son’s harmful behavior. Otherwise, her son “would not earn his salvation with God after his death.” The force she used on her son is a “reasonable exercise of her parental right to choose how to rear her children,” Bowes argued, citing a state law that allows parents to use reasonable punishment necessary for their children’s “proper control, training and education.”
. . .

Prosecutor Terry Curry told The Washington Post earlier that Thaing’s case is the first time the religious freedom law was used as a defense in the beating of a child. His office had unsuccessfully urged state legislators to exempt criminal statutes from the application of the law, arguing that it will be used to excuse what is otherwise considered a crime. . . .

Pence, now the Republican Party’s vice-presidential nominee, defended the legislation, saying there had been a misunderstanding about its intent.
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[gowlerk 2,285]

This story is missing a very important detail. Namely, what did the judge say about the attempt to use this defense. And did it have an effect on the sentence. It merely says the woman got probation. That means she was convicted and the defense was not successful. The motion to dismiss was not granted.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[Elisha 1]

billvon

...

Court records say he had 36 bruises on his back, arm and thigh, and a loop mark on his ear.

Bowes argued that Thaing felt she needed to take “strong corrective action” to save her daughter from her son’s harmful behavior. Otherwise, her son “would not earn his salvation with God after his death.” The force she used on her son is a “reasonable exercise of her parental right to choose how to rear her children,” Bowes argued, citing a state law that allows parents to use reasonable punishment necessary for their children’s “proper control, training and education.”
. . .

Prosecutor Terry Curry told The Washington Post earlier that Thaing’s case is the first time the religious freedom law was used as a defense in the beating of a child. His office had unsuccessfully urged state legislators to exempt criminal statutes from the application of the law, arguing that it will be used to excuse what is otherwise considered a crime. . . .

Pence, now the Republican Party’s vice-presidential nominee, defended the legislation, saying there had been a misunderstanding about its intent.
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A couple swats on the butt that leave a red mark that fades in a couple hours is a whole lot different than 36 bruises all over the body. Crazy.