The New Hampshire Supreme Court has ruled in a controversial case pitting parent against parent in a dispute over their child's religious education. Martin Kurowski disagreed with the home-schooling his daughter was receiving from her mother and sought to have her enrolled in public school. A trial court ruled in his favor.
Yesterday, the state's high court left that decision in place, but emphasized that the case is not about religious liberty .
The parties have had joint parenting responsibility for daughter at all times, including the joint authority to make decisions relating to her education. As two fit parents, they also have equal constitutional parenting rights. Yet, over the years, they have continually disagreed about whether daughter should be home-schooled or enrolled in public school. Because the parties could not reach a joint decision and father sought resolution in court, the trial court had to decide the dispute, guided by the best interests standard… Our only role is to decide whether the trial court committed legal error or unsustainably exercised its discretion. While this case has religious overtones, it is not about religion. While it involves home schooling, it is not about the merits of home versus public schooling. This case is only about resolving a dispute between two parents, with equal constitutional parenting rights and joint decision-making responsibility, who have been unable to agree how to best educate daughter.
