April 4, 2013
Landmark Case Could Limit YOUR Parental Rights - Please Help!
A
German family’s right to home education is currently before the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the results could
drastically impact your freedom to decide where and how your child will
be educated. In case you’re unfamiliar with the case, I’ve included
details below. But right now we need you to take 2 vital steps to support parental rights.
Action Items: How You Can Help
1. Please take a moment right now to sign the petition at https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/immediate-action-requested-romeikes%E2%80%94grant-permanent-legal-status-persecuted-german-homeschool-family/06vqtgCp
Because the appellant in this case is Attorney General Eric Holder’s office on behalf of the Obama Administration, you can plead with the White House to drop the case. To guarantee a response, we must reach 100,000 signatures by April 18.
To sign, you will have to create an account, including your first and last name and an email address. Your name is needed because, well, it’s a petition. And your email address is used to confirm that a real person is completing the form and not a “spam bot.” You will also have the option to give your city and state, but that is not required.
2. Please also donate to the Romeikes’ legal costs if you can. Click here to donate: https://secure.hslda.org/hslda/support.aspx?AppealId=425&PackageId=414&src=PROto the Homeschool Freedom Fund (led by ParentalRights.org president Michael Farris), which is representing the Romeikes – and all of us, by extension – in this vital case.
According to the Administration’s position, no parent has a constitutionally protected individual right to direct the education of their child. This makes the Romeike case vitally important to every American family.
Because the appellant in this case is Attorney General Eric Holder’s office on behalf of the Obama Administration, you can plead with the White House to drop the case. To guarantee a response, we must reach 100,000 signatures by April 18.
To sign, you will have to create an account, including your first and last name and an email address. Your name is needed because, well, it’s a petition. And your email address is used to confirm that a real person is completing the form and not a “spam bot.” You will also have the option to give your city and state, but that is not required.
2. Please also donate to the Romeikes’ legal costs if you can. Click here to donate: https://secure.hslda.org/hslda/support.aspx?AppealId=425&PackageId=414&src=PROto the Homeschool Freedom Fund (led by ParentalRights.org president Michael Farris), which is representing the Romeikes – and all of us, by extension – in this vital case.
According to the Administration’s position, no parent has a constitutionally protected individual right to direct the education of their child. This makes the Romeike case vitally important to every American family.
Background
In
2008, the Romeike family secured passports and visas and travelled to
the United States. While here on their legal visit, they petitioned the
U.S. government for political asylum to escape laws in their own country
that conflicted with their human rights.
Hailing from Germany, the Romeikes came to America to preserve their right to decide the kind of education their children would receive. German law requires that all students attend the state’s schools.
After an appropriate review of the facts in the case, the U.S. court granted asylum. Because their conscience, advised by their deeply held religious beliefs, would not permit the Romeikes to put their children into state schools, and because a return to Germany would result in incarceration, fines, and/or the loss of their children unless they surrendered those beliefs, the Romeikes were permitted to stay in the United States as refugees.
Then, the U.S. Attorney General’s office decided to appeal that decision and send the Romeikes back to Germany. The Administration’s lawyers argue that the family does not have an individual right to direct their child’s education, so Germany’s law is not sufficient cause to grant them asylum.
Apparently, the Administration believes that rights are not being infringed as long as the laws are non-discriminatory (the law applies to everyone equally) and as long as the rights of a group of people are not violated (collective rights, such as our laws that grant certain exemptions to the Amish in light of their history and convictions).
Hailing from Germany, the Romeikes came to America to preserve their right to decide the kind of education their children would receive. German law requires that all students attend the state’s schools.
After an appropriate review of the facts in the case, the U.S. court granted asylum. Because their conscience, advised by their deeply held religious beliefs, would not permit the Romeikes to put their children into state schools, and because a return to Germany would result in incarceration, fines, and/or the loss of their children unless they surrendered those beliefs, the Romeikes were permitted to stay in the United States as refugees.
Then, the U.S. Attorney General’s office decided to appeal that decision and send the Romeikes back to Germany. The Administration’s lawyers argue that the family does not have an individual right to direct their child’s education, so Germany’s law is not sufficient cause to grant them asylum.
Apparently, the Administration believes that rights are not being infringed as long as the laws are non-discriminatory (the law applies to everyone equally) and as long as the rights of a group of people are not violated (collective rights, such as our laws that grant certain exemptions to the Amish in light of their history and convictions).
What Is at Stake
According
to this theory, though, rights of conscience would exist for a group
but not for the individual. Similarly, the government could take away
any right it chooses as long as laws to do so apply equally to all
people.It is vital to recognize that this is the official position of our current federal administration regarding your rights as a parent! If the court agrees with them, parental rights will be severely threatened.
By contrast, ParentalRights.org believes the right of a parent to direct the education of their child is a natural human right. We agree with Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1947), which says, “Parents have a prior right to decide the kind of education that their child will receive.”
If the court adopts the Administration’s view, your individual right to make decisions for your child could be at risk. In this case, a decision against the Romeikes would be a decision against the right of every American parent to make decisions for their child.
To put it simply, if the Romeikes do not have a constitutionally defensible right to direct the education of their children, then neither do you or I. Supporting the effort to defend their right is supporting every one of us, as well.
Thank you for your time and generous support, and thank you for standing with us for freedom – for the Romeikes and for all Americans, too!
Sincerely,
Michael Ramey
Director of Communications & Research
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