4/28/11 – AP: Ark. Supreme Court says court was right to void parental rights for some Alamo followers
Greenfield Reporter
April 28, 2011
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ark. Supreme Court says court was right to void parental rights for some Alamo followers
The Arkansas Supreme Court says a judge was right to terminate the parental rights of seven people who saw their 16 children seized from the compound of evangelist Tony Alamo (uh-LAH’-moh) in 2008.
A state agency seized the children after it was alleged that some children were being abused at Alamo’s complex near Fouke in southwestern Arkansas. Alamo eventually was convicted in federal court and sentenced to prison.
In a series of rulings Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected arguments that Circuit Judge Joe E. Griffin violated the parents’ religious freedom rights. Justices said the children could be at risk if they remained in the compound.
Attorney John Wesley Hall Jr. of Little Rock said he would likely appeal. A man answering the telephone of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries declined comment.