Comments on: Rifqa Bary Should Be Considered an Adult

By: Yvette

Yvette — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:13:26 +0000

Rifqa Bary should be allowed to go free and back to Florida to live with the family she was residing with. She is too old to be treated like she doesn’t have the mental capacity to know what she wants. This family in FL was willing to let her live with them, and I am sure would love to see her come back, where she can make plans for building her future. So your “who’s gonna pay” argument doesn’t hold water. She was already being sponsored by her host family in FL. And your point of her being “taken away” is erroneous too. She removed herself from her parents for fear of her life. So, the government didn’t take her away, she took herself away which should be her right at 17+ years. If and when she wishes to see her parents again, that’s her call. But to treat her like she committed some crime or that she is mentally incapable of making decisions, is wrong and dangerous. We are a nation founded on religious freedoms and because of our insanely PC culture, she is being targeted by leftists who love to bash Christianity. Let Rifqa live her life and leave her alone.

By: chris

chris — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:04:41 +0000

The problem here is that OH does not have any provisions for emancipation. Since she is a resident of OH, FL cannot emancipate her. Were she a FL resident, this wouldnt even be a story, she would have applied for and been granted emancipation without hardly any problems.

By: Craig McCarthy

Craig McCarthy — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:42:42 +0000

No, you are not wrong Jay.

By: Jay

Jay — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:26:47 +0000

I agree with you Craig that the parents have rights to defend their side in court. Emancipation details won’t matter when she turns 18, or am I wrong?

By: Craig McCarthy

Craig McCarthy — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:23:09 +0000

I appreciate the tone of your post, Jay. There is a whole lot going on here. Emancipation seems obvious to many, but it isn’t that simple. Emancipation means that one has the means to support herself; it does not mean that a minor can make all decisions for herself while still a junior in high school and with all of her care paid for by Florida taxpayers. So one of three things are in the cards: Ohio taxpayers support her, Florida taxpayers support her, or her parents support her.

I know it seems legalistic…but it is a legal matter, and a minor is a minor, if not emancipated, and an adult is an adult.

For me, as with what I deal with every day, this is a matter of whether or not parents are given a decent defense when the government takes children away. And that is what has happened here. A found runaway is not the same thing as a dependent child. This young woman is only in Florida today because two branches of government have acted to keep her in Florida. The very strong feelings of some you respect that the parents ought not even be allowed to defend themselves or ever even again be allowed to speak to their teenage daughter because they are Muslim, and that’s all you need to know, disturbs me greatly. That sort of notion tends to come back on the one holding the thought.

Anyway, Jay, I appreciate posting here and think your post on this is just fine.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:12:13 +0000

Agreed. If she had committed a crime, she would likely be tried as an adult.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:02:33 +0000

What troubles me is that something does not turn from everything perfectly good and normal to brainwashed and dishonest – Because of somebody over the phone. Clearly I don’t have the facts.

Treating her like an adult seems to be in her best interests.