The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-08-28
FIGHT
 FOR INFANT -MOnthS-Old Child Ar rested for Vagrancy. PECULIAR CASE IN IOWA
Vigorous Test of the New
 Sociological Statute,
Under Its Operation, Says Judge Hughes, Any Child Can Be Kept from Its Parents
 for Two Years,

Keokuk Ia, Aug. T.-In legal fight for the possession of her eleven-months- old baby. which is seriously i'll, Mrs. Vina kellar caused the arrest of the in fant today on a charge of vagrancy, had herself appointed a special constable to take charge of the diminutive prisoner during a continuance of the case, and thus won a victory over Secretary Elmer Park of the Associated Charities, who was landed in jail for nearly an hour for contempt of court in his attempt to de- prive the mother of her child.
 A construction of the new sociological statute passed by the last Legislature has resulted.
 All night and today several courts were kept busy and Secretary Park spent forty-five minutes in jail, being finally re- leased on a writ of habeas corpus He is now in legal custody of the child but the mother has actual possession, having ob- tained the infant by extraordinary means and hidden it. The doctor says the baby will probably die. This added to the mothers desire to see it. as she hitherto had been denied all access to it.
 The New Law.
 A new law was passed last session at the instance of the scientific sociologists. It provides the procedure by which chill dren may be taken from incompetent and absolute or immoral parents and given to persons or charitable societies by courts or Mayors of cities
 Judge Hughes, in the Superior Court this afternoon. construed the law to be: If the mother is found competent by trial court and the child be given back. the filing of a notice of appeal by the Associated Charities stops the execution of the order to return the child to the mother.
 The effect is to keep the child away from the acquitted mother until a long series of appeals through all the courts to the Supreme Court are fipally decided. taking generally two years.
 The attorney for Secretary Park said in open court that this was the intention of his client.
 Judge Hughes's decision rendered in the habeas corpus proceedings has caused wave of intense indignation over the new law. The baby involved in this. the first case in Iowa under the new law, is ac- tually sick and neglect of the mother is charged under the new statute. On trial the mother was found not guilty of any thing in purview of the new law. which also was declared unconstitutional.
 EdThc ocA1L IO Jdl1s
 Secretary Parke appealed and refused to obey the law of the court to return the baby to its mother. He was then arrested on a bench warrant for contempt of court and summarily sent to jail. His lawyer then reused Judge Hughes out of bed and filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which had a hearing to- day.
 In the meantime, the mother of the baby today had neighbor file informa- ton fin a justice court charging the baby, eleven months old, with vagrancy. A big constable soberly arrested the baby at the hospital where 1t was being treated, and brought the infantle prisoner into court. The vagrancy case was continued to Saturday and the mother was made special constable and ordered to keep the baby prisoner safely till the case should be called again.
 The mother took the baby and hid it somewhere in the city.
 County Attorney Marshall said tonight that the next move would be the prosecu- tion of the justice and the lawyers for the mother on charge of conspiracy in the vagrancy case.
 Judge Hughes says 1t is true that the new law makes it possible for anybody to file an information against anybody's child and, after acquittal keep the child from the parents for long time by series of appeals. If the law is held con- stltutonal, he says, he can see no escape from such possible outrage.