SOUTH ROYALTON, Vt. (AP) -- The Vermont Supreme Court will decide if an Essex Junction woman with sole custody of her two daughters can prevent her ex-husband from exposing the girls to the Jehovah's Witness religion.
The Chittenden County family court ruled last August that Lee Meyer, also of Essex Junction, could not expose his girls to any Jehovah's Witnesses religious meetings, Bible studies, or other religion-related activities.
The lower court made the order after finding the girls were suffering emotionally.
But the attorney for Lee Meyer told the Supreme Court Tuesday the lower court overstepped its authority because it was ruling on the merits of the religion.
"The case is not about the father's religious practices. It's about the court's obvious dislike of the Jehovah's Witness religion," said Jack Long, the attorney for Lee Meyer.
The attorney for Lee Meyer's ex-wife Erika told the court the case was not about religion, it was about what was best for the girls, who were 11 and 9 last summer when the order was handed down.
Attorney Nicholas Tishler said Lee Meyer had used his religion to drive a wedge between his ex-wife and their daughters.
"The records document a psychological bullying by the appellant," Tishler said.
The Supreme Court heard the case at the Vermont Law School in South Royalton, where the court sets up shop once a year to give the students at look at the high court in action.
Tishler said Family Court Judge Linda Levitt didn't rule on the merits of Lee Meyer's religion because the case was at heart a custody dispute; the restriction on Lee Meyer's ability to expose his children to Jehovah's Witness practices was meant to minimize their psychological harm.
Tishler said Lee Meyer was free to discuss religion with his daughters outside a formal church setting.
The Meyers' two girls were raised as Jehovah's Witnesses from their birth. The couple was divorced in 1995, but the girls continued to practice as Jehovah's Witnesses until four years later when Erika Meyer became a member of a Congregationalist church.