Liberty Counsel Update on the Hearing in Lisa Miller’s Case

Lisa Miller and her daughter, Isabella.

Matt Staver of Liberty Counsel writes:

January 29, 2009; www.LC.org

Thank you for your prayers for Lisa Miller. Yesterday Liberty Counsel presented oral argument in Lisa’s case in a Vermont court. At the hearing, an individual who was appointed by the judge to make recommendations in the case gave her opinion that changing custody would be harmful to Isabella. The judge allowed Lisa to retain custody, but ordered unsupervised visitation for four days in March, over the Memorial Day holiday and for five weeks in the summer.

Lisa has been involved in a long battle in Vermont and in her home state of Virginia, to keep an unrelated woman from being given parental rights over Lisa’s daughter Isabella. Before becoming a Christian, Lisa entered into a Vermont Civil Union with Janet Jenkins during a visit to Vermont. Lisa Miller left her former lifestyle and became a Christian when Isabella was 17 months old. Since then, Janet has sought full custody of Isabella, claiming she was a parent even though she was not biologically related to Isabella and never sought to adopt her. Read more about her case on [the Liberty Counsel] website.

Lisa and Isabella need your continuing fervent prayer. Even a few days of visitation that was allowed under court order a few weeks ago caused emotional trauma to Isabella. Unimaginable damage could be done in five weeks if Isabella is forced away from the only mother she has ever known.

We will continue to pursue legal action in Virginia for Lisa and Isabella. This battle illustrates how the laws of one state can negatively impact families in other states. The federal Defense of Marriage Act is a key component of our arguments to keep Virginia from forcing Lisa to recognize Janet as another mother of Isabella.

We are also continuing to rally support for Lisa by promoting a group on Facebook called “Only One Mommy: The Story of Lisa and Isabella Miller.”

We know that the prayers for Lisa and Isabella are working. In the past few months, Janet’s former attorney in Vermont withdrew from her case, her Virginia attorney was indicted for obstruction of justice in a situation involving the investigation of the death of a man in his home, and the judge has refused to give custody of Isabella to Janet.

Mathew D. Staver – Founder and Chairman
Anita L. Staver – President
Liberty Counsel – 1-800-671-1776
PO Box 540774 – Orlando, FL 32854