6/03/09 – NWA: Judge delays access to Alamo case data
NWANews
June 3, 2009
Judge delays access to Alamo case data
Arkansas child-welfare officials will not have to provide the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries with any information until a judge decides whether the ministry’s lawsuit should be dismissed, the judge ruled Tuesday.
The lawsuit, filed by a group known as CPS Watch Legal Team on behalf of the ministry in April, claims that the Arkansas Department of Human Services has violated church members’ religious freedoms by removing children from the ministry and requiring parents to sever some of their ties with the ministry to regain custody.
The Human Services Department contends the ministry is trying to use a federal court to circumvent child-welfare proceedings in Miller County Circuit Court. It has asked U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes to dismiss the case.
In a one-page order issued Tuesday, Barnes granted a request by the department to halt the sharing of information between the parties until he rules on the request for dismissal. Barnes had not ruled on the dismissal request late Tuesday.