Mom jailed in battle with dad over circumcision of 4-year-old son; judge is asked to halt surgery
A Florida mom was arrested Thursday and jailed for contempt because of her refusal to cooperate with the court-ordered circumcision of her 4-year-old son. The boy’s father wants the surgery, and Heather Hironimus initially agreed to it in a parenting plan she now disavows.
Meanwhile, an emergency hearing is scheduled Monday in West Palm Beach in a civil rights case filed by Hironimus against the boy’s father, Dennis Nebus; the judge in the state-court case; and the Palm Beach County sheriff, according to the Associated Press and the Sun Sentinel. At issue in the hearing is whether the federal court should grant a restraining order to prevent the father from conducting the surgery until the federal case is decided.
Attorney Thomas Hunker is representing Hironimus. In a motion filed Friday, he says he assumes the boy is now with his father. Unless the order is granted, “the circumcision will permanently and irreversibly mutilate his genitals, and the federal lawsuit will be rendered moot,” the pleading says.
Hironimus is being held in Broward County jail without bond pending extradition to Palm Beach County.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Mom files federal civil rights suit in parental fight over circumcision of boy, 4”
