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Circumcision battle: Mom seeks release from jail after federal lawsuit is dismissed
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Circumcision battle: Mom seeks release from jail after federal lawsuit is dismissed

Source: sun-sentinel.com


West Boynton mother on Wednesday gave up trying to get a federal judge to stop her 4 1/2-year-old son from being circumcised as his father wishes — a battle that also led to her arrest May 14 on a state court warrant.

An attorney for Heather Hironimus, who lost similar legal challenges in two state courts, notified U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra that she voluntarily dismissed the month-old case, and would be barred from filing it again in federal court.

But at the same time, the 31-year-old mother remained behind bars, charged with interfering with the father's custody of the boy in violation of an order from Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Dana Gillen.

Hironimus — held in Broward County Jail since her arrest after nearly three months of hiding with the boy at a domestic violence shelter — is expected in Gillen's Delray Beach courtroom early Friday. The judge previously said that her get-out-of-jail ticket will be her signature of consent to her son's circumcision.

Thomas Hunker, attorney for the mother, told her supporters that his mission now is to try to "Heather get out of jail and preserve her custody rights."

Hunker said they quit the federal lawsuit because it appeared hopeless, in light of a hearing Monday where the judge repeatedly questioned the justification for a case already decided by state judges.

"Unfortunately, Judge Marra was not only not sympathetic, he seemed quite hostile toward our position," the attorney wrote in a message shared by circumcision opponents and posted on a Facebook page dedicated to the boy and his mom.

Hunker could not be reached for comment despite calls and an email to his office Wednesday. Previously, he has said he couldn't speak because of a gag order imposed by Gillen.

In his message, he said continuing the federal lawsuit would surely result in "an unfavorable order which could potentially hurt the cause and future efforts to establish a child's right to object to circumcision. I hope you understand and agree that under the circumstances, this was our only available option."

Ira Marcus, attorney for the boy's father, Dennis Nebus of Boca Raton, told the Sun Sentinel he was stunned to learn the case had been withdrawn. He said he gave the news to his client, who took custody of his son when Hironimus was jailed but had not yet attempted to schedule the surgery.

"I'm shocked because they were so aggressive about their position," Marcus said, referring to the mother and her attorney's numerous case pleadings and arguments in court Monday.

Hironimus' sudden decision to quit sparked a wave of anger and sadness among anti-circumcision groups, called "intactivists." They have followed the debate for more than a year, raising money for the mom's legal fund and championing her efforts at local rallies and through social media.

"I am very disappointed that the attorney for the child precipitously abandoned the federal lawsuit," said Georganne Chapin, executive director of Intact America, who attended Monday's federal court hearing. "What we hope for now is that the father will have compassion for his young son, and not compound the trauma of the past few months with the trauma of a medically unnecessary surgery."

Hunker had urged Marra to protect the boy from "physical harm," brain damage or worse from an elective procedure that allegedly violates his constitutional rights.

"This is a potentially life-and-death situation," Hunker said, arguing the child doesn't respond well to general anesthesia and is prone to scarring that could further harm his genitals if he survives. He said the removal of the foreskin from the boy's penis is not "reversible" and violates his right to bodily "integrity."

Hunker, revising claims already made in state court, also said the boy's civil rights were violated because he hasn't had a psychological examination or an independent guardian to speak on his behalf in court, as the mother requested.

Judge Gillen so far has refused to hear those requests. In March, he found Hironimus in contempt of court for willfully violating an order enforcing a 2012 parenting plan — she and Nebus signed it — that allows for the circumcision. The feuding parents never married.

Hironimus has said she changed her mind about supporting the procedure, and her attorney said the boy is terrified.

"My son has mentioned things to me that he's scared to have his penis cut off," Nebus previously testified, blaming the mother for causing the child's fear.

The father also said he's received death threats because of his desire to pursue the circumcision.

He said he decided it was important after noticing his son was urinating on his leg in late 2013. The father said the boy had a condition called phimosis, which prevents retraction of the foreskin, but the mother has insisted there's no such diagnosis.

Hunker also has argued that the boy's urologist determined there is no medical need for the circumcision, nor are there any religious reasons for it.

Gillen signed an arrest warrant March 10 after Hironimus did not show up to hand over the boy to his dad in the courtroom as required in a custody-sharing agreement.

The judge has said circumcision is "very, very safe" for someone the boy's age. And he said males who have had it performed were virtually protected from getting penile cancer, and had less of a chance of getting sexually transmitted diseases.

Source: sun-sentinel.com

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