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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
JULY 20, 1657.
TWELVE
Appeal-
(Continued from Page Eleven)
“primary concern” was for the
“present and future welfare and
happiness” of the 6-year-old girl
involved. He said he was not
unmindful of the child’s natural
mother’s claim “nor is the sin
cerity of her efforts questioned
nor her anxiety for the spiritual
future of the minor.” He added
that it was “abundantly clear”
that the welfare of the child is
a greater factor than her natural
mother’s claim.
“It is of greater concern than
the protestant’s (Mrs. Doherty’s)
Wishes with reference to future
religious beliefs of the minor, and
of greater consequence than the
legality of the minor’s presence
in Florida,” Judge Prunty said.
The Judge said that separat
ing the child from the Ellises,
with whom she has resided since
she was 10 days old, “might re
sult in irreparable damage” to
the child. He said the child,
bound by “deep ties of affection”
to the Ellises, “might net be able
to accept a new set of parents and
thus might be rendered unsuit
able for future adoption.”
Judge Prunty said he found
the Ellises “suitable persons” to
adopt the child, stating they have
had a “stable marriage union
for over eleven years” and are
“basically law-abiding citizens,”
even though. they retained the
minor against orders of the Mass
achusetts courts.”
The judge said that the Ellises’
declaration to let the child em
brace a religion other than their
own upon reaching the age of
discretion “appears to be in
complete harmony with the con
stitutional guarantees of free re
ligion which we all enjoy under
the Federal and State Constitu
tions, and is to be commended.”
Judge Prunty said that Hildy
McCoy “is suitable for adoption”
by the Ellises and “there appears
to be no alternative which would
serve the child’s best interests as
well as adoption” by the Ellises.
“The said minor child shall be
hereafter known as Hildy Ellis,”
Judge Prunty ruled.
John Sullivan of Boston, and
Robert Asti of Miami, served as
counsel for Mrs. Doherty at the
adoption petition hearing. After
outlining the three-year-old court
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history of the case, Mr. Sullivan
told the court that the decrees of
Massachusetts involving the same
parties and the same subject mat
ter were entitled to “full faith
and credit” in Florida under pro
visions of the U. S. Constitution.
“By a decree favoring the pe
tition you will sanction the course
of conduct they (the Ellises)
took,” Mr. Sullivan declared. “I
don’t know how you can expect
people coming before you to com
ply with decrees of your court.”
The Boston attorney called the
conduct of the Ellises “reprehen
sible” in “defying the courts of
Massachusetts” which ordered
them to surrender the child to
her natural mother.
“A court has been held to have
no jurisdiction for a child that
has been abducted into the state,”
Mr. Sullivan said. “You cannot
be sure these petitioners will
comply with a decree you enter
unless it is in complete favor to
them.”
The Ellises were represented
by Ben Cohen, who is Jewish,
and Jack Lloyd, a Catholic, Mi
ami attorneys.
Aaron Barken, chairman of the
Dade County Bar Association’s
adoption committee, told the
court an investigation disclosed,
the Ellises “have better than ave
rage home conditions and have
an excellent reputation in the
community.” He said that a con
sultation with psychiatrists dis
close Hildy McCoy to be “an em
otionally secure” and “normal
child” who enjoys “excellent”
health. He said the psychiatrists
agreed that “separation of the
child from the only parents she
has ever known would be detri
mental to her health and that
the child bound by affection to
the Ellises would have difficulty
in accepting a new set of pa
rents.”
Mr. Sullivan declared that the
“basic right of this child is de
cent privacy without the identi
fication of her birth.”
“We have never contributed to
the publicity or the pictures in,
the papers,” the Boston lawyer
declared. “It will be important
to her to know that her mother
was motivated by love at her
own expense and at the expense
of her own reputation. She has
by her conduct in the last six
years proved her motive.”
THEIR SON OUT OF RED JAIL
Mr. and Mrs. John Houle hold a picture of their son. Father John
A. Houle, in their Glendale, Calif., home after receiving news that
he has been released by the Chinese Communist regime. Father
Houle, a Jesuit missionary, was sentenced to prison in 1954 Q»
alleged charges of espionage. (NC Soundphoto) ,
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