When a mother became a drug abuser and was incarcerated for related crimes, she lost the opportunity to continue to care for her child. In fact, she was cut off from all aspects of her relationship with her child. Prison time can enable deep soul searching, and this mother came to Christ at that deepest darkest time in her life. She was released from incarceration even earlier than good behavior would allow because her life exhibited such dramatic changes. God had changed her.
Because she wanted to be restored to her child after paying her debt to society, she came to Maria Lawrence for legal counsel. Maria, who is a mother herself, understood the pain this client was enduring. Parted from her child, and kept away from her by the child’s father, this client wanted to do everything possible to restore the relationship with her child.
Maria listened to the client, cared for her, comprehended the pain, and represented her at every level of the judiciary. She drafted all of the pleadings in the case at every turn, first at the trial court, then at the appellate level, then finally the case went all the way to the Arizona Supreme Court. (Read the response brief, supplemental brief, and response to petition for review.)
At each level, the courts ruled over and over that a parent shall not be prohibited from being restored to her child. This client received news just weeks ago that she would indeed be restored to her child, as that reality was ultimately confirmed at the highest level of judiciary in the state of Arizona. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that a parent’s rights to a relationship with her child cannot be revoked or restricted based on her checkered past. Indeed, they ordered that a parent who can carry out her parental duties shall not be separated from her child. God used a smart, wise, and caring lawyer, and the judicial system to restore a mother and her child.
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Maria E. Lawrence, Esq. is an attorney and counselor at law with MUELLER & DRURY, P.C. in Phoenix, Arizona, and wife and mother of three. While in law school she served as Moot Court Board director, graduate research assistant to Professor Kohm, and coauthored with her the article Sex at Six: The Victimization of Innocence and Other Concerns over Children’s “Rights,” 36 BRANDEIS J. FAM. L. 361 (Summer1997).
Maria E. Lawrence, Esq. is an attorney and counselor at law with MUELLER & DRURY, P.C. in Phoenix, Arizona, and wife and mother of three. While in law school she served as Moot Court Board director, graduate research assistant to Professor Kohm, and coauthored with her the article Sex at Six: The Victimization of Innocence and Other Concerns over Children’s “Rights,” 36 BRANDEIS J. FAM. L. 361 (Summer1997).
As inspiring as the restoration of this estranged mother to her child has seemed, two issues stick out in my mind: 1) how would the courts on each level have ruled had this been an estranged father and 2) what does "restoration" really entail in the legal system? Although the article does not go into detail about the transformation which the mother went through or the nature of her relationship with her child before her incarceration, I can't help but wonder whether the court's (or society's) view of the child's need of a mother went into its decision to return the child to her mother. True, parental rights are inalienable-a mother's presence is not easily replaceable and the need for a parent to a child's productivity in society is extraordinay--though orphaned children do often make upstanding citizens. I do wonder-had this been the child's father-would there have been more hurdles for him to jump through for this restoration to occur (beyond the substance abuse counseling)--would they have required additional parenting classes, or even anger management-as opposed to the process of restoration that a mother would've had to endure?
ReplyDeleteAnd secondly, what exactly does restoration look like to the courts? Is it indeed a couple of substance abuse or parenting classes--how can the readiness for reconciliation be measured? Well, I guess this brings us back again to the title of the article-only God can restore parents to children, but to a court system that would like to leave God out of the picture, I suppose we can never truly measure when restoration is appropriate---getting out early on good behavior doesn't hurt.