I am always surprised when a republican judge does the right thing. See
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory2/2754419A judge today dismissed the case in which state Rep. Talmadge Heflin and his wife were seeking custody of the 20-month-old son of African illegal immigrants.
Family District Judge Linda Motheral ordered the boy returned to his mother this afternoon, bringing an end to the high-profile custody battle that appeared as if it could take months to resolve.
"The law is very clear that the best interest of the child will be served if the biological parents bring him up in their own culture, in their own way," said Mathew Nwogu, one of the lawyers who represented the parents. "The mother and the father are very excited and at least they can say there is justice in the U.S. of A."
Heflin, a Houston Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, and his wife, Janice, were seeking permanent custody of Fidel Odimara Jr., the son of a woman who had lived in their house for more than a year. The Heflins claimed that the mother took little interest in the child and essentially had left him in their care while she lived with them.