A restraining order barring Adam Race, a severely autistic 13-year-old boy, from St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Bertha was upheld following a June 24 hearing to contest the order.
The court found Adam’s parents, John and Carol Race, have been “unable to prevent their adult-sized minor child from repeated incidents of unwanted and intrusive conduct” during Mass at the church, according to a decision by Judge Sally Ireland Robertson in Todd County District Court. St. Joseph’s has a right to avoid the “substantial adverse effects, real and potential, for itself and its parishioners” of his conduct.
“A preponderance of the evidence” showed that Adam engaged in “repeated ‘harassment’” as that term is defined in Minnesota Statute, Robertson said.
Robertson limited her decision to the definition of harassment, although both Carol Race and the church’s attorney addressed constitutional concerns.
Carol was still forming her reaction Monday after receiving the decision on Friday, she said. She plans to consult an attorney, she said. She believes the Minnesota statute defining harassment raises some constitutional issues.
“The statute has to be challenged as to how it applies to people with disabilities,” Carol said.
The statute was written primarily for domestic situations, she said. It was also intended for situations where both sides are mentally competent.
The circumstances surrounding Adam’s behavior when he started cars in the church parking lot should have been relevant, Carol said. He was on new psychotropic medications.
Carol said the law treats her son’s behavior in church as a static situation. Many of the incidents cited in the church’s petition for a restraining order happened a long time ago and have been dealt with, she said. The incident of Adam hitting a child occurred two and half years ago.
“What bothers me is there is no room for improvement,” she said.
Children, including disabled ones, grow and change, Carol said.
Carol requested the hearing because she did not agree with the statements of Adam’s behavior as they were described in the petition.
Testimony at the hearing addressed Carol’s concerns over the truthfulness of the claims of “dangerous and disruptive” behavior described in the restraining order and language she described as inflammatory.
Those testifying at the hearing included the Rev. Daniel Walz of St. Joseph’s and Carol Race.
The testimony shows that “an elderly parishioner was at risk of being knocked down on one or more occasions” that Adam struck a young child, and was able to “get into and start a car in the church parking lot,” Robertson said.
Although Walz did not personally witness many of the incidents described in the restraining order, he did observe some of them and “believed in good faith” the parishioners’ observations, according to Robertson’s decision.
The court “cannot and does not agree” with Carol’s assertion that distractions caused by Adam were no different than a crying baby, Robertson said. The court did attempt to use Carol’s language in describing situations she said were mischaracterized in the petition.
The restraining order describes incidents where Adam’s family bound his hands with “rope.” Friday’s decision used the term “fleece ties.”
The decision continues the May 9 restraining order that was in effect for two years. It orders Adam to stay away from church property and services. It does allow for Adam to participate in a private Mass arranged by and agreed to by the parish. The order does not bar Carol and John Race from attending services at St. Joseph’s.
The decision concluded with Robertson acknowledging “this is a difficult and challenging situation for all concerned.”
She added that resolving the social issues addressed in the case will require the “acceptance of reality” as well as “sacrifice, tolerance, mutual respect … and compromise.”
Carol said she remains interested in having mediation sessions with the church.
