Topic: Separation of Church and State
Reverend Magdalen,SubGenius Cult Mother, Prepares For Final Custody Battle A Georgia mother has acquired over $140,000 in legal costs in her ongoing struggle to regain custody of her son, after the child was taken away from her based on her religious beliefs.by Modemac
(centrist)
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
A Georgia mother has acquired over $140,000 in legal costs in her ongoing struggle to regain custody of her son, after the child was taken away from her based on her religious beliefs. While she was awarded "temporary" custody of her son in August of 2007, her legal battle continues and she may lose her son altogether at a hearing this friday (September 26, 2008).
Rachel Bevilacqua (a.k.a. "Reverend Magdalen") is a high-ranking member of the Church of the SubGenius, known far and wide as a "parody religion" that engages in satire, performance art, and comedy in a manner widely seen as a spoof of dangerous religious cults. In December of 2005, she became involved in a legal dispute regarding custody of her ten-year-old son, though she and the father of the boy had never been married. Rachel had raised her son with her husband, Steve Bevilacqua, and exercised custody from birth, with the father of the child retaining visitation rights. As with many separated couples, this agreement had been followed by each parent, until the father took steps to request sole custody of the child in December of 2005.
Domestic custody battles take place daily in the court system, but this case took a turn into strange territory on february 3, 2006, when Rachel Bevilacqua's chosen religion was introduced in the court room. Her son's father introduced photos of her performing at the annual SubGenius "X-Day" festival, including participation in an unquestionably adult-oriented parody of Mel Gibson's blockbuster movie The Passion of the Christ. In the SubGenius parody, Jesus Christ is dressed in clown makeup and carrying a cross fashioned in the shape of a dollar sign, while dozens of members of the Church of the SubGenius beat him with sexual toys and objects. This performance was enough to outrage Judge James Punch (Orleans, NY), who subsequently removed custody of Bevilacqua's son and ordered sole custody to be granted to the father.
Rachel's case soon reached the Internet, where it became a rallying cry for advocates in favor of free expression and free speech. Such popular online sites as Boing Boing and Fark spread the word far and wide, casting Bevilacqua as a victim of a legal system that apparently failed to recognize the right to engage in parody, and of a judge who, as quoted in a famous SubGenius slogan, "couldn't take a joke."
Rachel's son has never attended any SubGenius events, which are often adults-only and frequently encourage participants to engage in activities considered offensive and blasphemous to many religious beliefs.
The boy's father, Jeff Jary, was represented pro-bono by a personal friend. The ongoing court case saw numerous delaying tactics by Jary's lawyer, which resulted in the case being extended for the remainder of 2006, and over $140,000 in legal costs to Rachel Bevilacqua as the case was extended and delayed for over a year and a half.
following the word of this case being spread on the Internet, Judge Punch recused himself without comment. The case was re-assigned to Judge Eric R. Adams of Batavia, New York. In December of 2006, after months of delays, Judge Adams awarded custody of the child to Rachel Bevilacqua. However, Jeff Jary's lawyer filed an emergency stay order, requiring the case to go to an appellate court. The appeals court awarded custody to Jeff Jary in July of 2007, and it seemed as though Rachel had lost the case; however, immediately following this custody decision, the case took an unexpected turn when Jeff Jary was arrested and incarcerated on charges stemming from a car accident involving a brick wall, a lot of alcohol, and another passenger (not Rachel's son). Jary was sentenced to an eight-month jail term, though he served only one month before being released. Custody was awarded to Rachel due to this incident, and Rachel's son has resisded with her since August of 2007.
In addition to the custody order, in January of 2007 the court ordered Rachel Bevilacqua to remove all SubGenius-related material from her home, to prevent her son from being exposed to it. This order has stood through all subsequent court decisions, and as of September of 2008 she is still unable to keep SubGenius materials in her own home.
However, in the late summer of 2008, Jeff Jary once again filed a request for a new hearing, which is currently scheduled to take place on September 26, 2008. This new hearing requires Rachel to produce a lawyer once again, and she is currently being represented by the law office of R. Brian Goewey (Rochester, New York). Because of the enormous strain this legal battle has placed upon Rachel and her husband's finances, she is looking to the Internet for assistance and financial support for this hearing. This may be the final stage of her ongoing struggle.
The views expressed in this
article are those of Modemac only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Modemac is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
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