Massachusetts Court Rules Foster Parents May Not Use Corporal Punishment – Regardless Of Religious Beliefs

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) is required to protect children in foster care from trauma while in foster care, and therefore is able to reject potential foster parents who utilize corporal punishment as part of their "religious beliefs." The state Supreme Judicial Court ruled that DCF did not infringe on the right to free exercise of religion when it rejected potential foster parents who stated in their application that in accordance with their religious beliefs, in cases of deliberate disobedience they used corporal punishment (spanking) to discipline their two . . .