Homeschooling and the Courts
For one German family, it turns out that the U.S. despite our own draconian education regulations has served as a place for asylum. In January, a judge granted this family this status as a means of protecting their essential human rights. Homeschoolers are a particular social group that the German government is trying to suppress, said Immigration Judge Lawrence O, Burman. This family has a well-founded fear of persecutiontherefore, they are eligible for asylumand the court will grant asylum.
In a case with international ramifications, Immigration Judge Lawrence O. Burman granted the political asylum application of a German homeschooling family. The Romeikes are Christians from Bissinggen, Germany, who fled persecution in August 2008 to seek political asylum in the United States. The request was granted January 26 after a hearing was held in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 21.
We cant expect every country to follow our constitution, said Judge Burman. The world might be a better place if it did. However, the rights being violated here are basic human rights that no country has a right to violate.
For similar reasons, many voters find it important that courts have home-school friendly judges; not so much that they are biased in that direction but that the rights associated with homeschooling are recognized. These days, it is more likely that a Christian judge would be so inclined, but generally a conservative view of the constitutional rights alone is sufficient.