July 8, 2008
Entries in Faith Healing Cases (1)
Wisconsin to decide Faith Healing case
From the Wausau Daily Herald:
Kara [Neumann] died as a result of untreated diabetes when her parents chose to pray for her recovery rather than seek medical treatment. Wisconsin's criminal code includes a legal exemption for "treatment through prayer" that appears to conflict with the statute under which District Attorney Jill Falstad will bring charges today.
Though most states have some form of a legal exemption, Wisconsin's law is unusual in that it is a part of the criminal code rather than being confined to civil law.
The [parents'] claim is stronger in Wisconsin, where the exemption is in the criminal code, said James Dwyer, a law professor at The College of William and Mary in Virginia, who has written about faith healing and the law. Among those types of claims ... I'd say this one is relatively strong.
Overall, Dwyer said courts in other states have been "about 50-50" in accepting this type of legal argument, and the case is the first of its kind in Wisconsin.
Blakely
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