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FL Circumcision Battle Enters Federal Court

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
Matt Sedensky/AP
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

The case of a Florida woman who fled to avoid her son's circumcision is entering a federal courtroom for the first time.

Thirty-one-year-old Heather Hironimus was arrested Thursday in the long-running dispute over the removal of her 4-year-old child's foreskin.

She went missing with the boy nearly three months ago and ignored a judge's warnings that if she didn't appear in court and give consent for the circumcision to proceed, she faced jail.

The case originated in state courts but will be heard in a federal courtroom Monday in West Palm Beach. An attorney for Hironimus filed a federal civil rights complaint as legal options faded.

A judge is due to hear a motion asking for a restraining order against the boy's father to keep the surgery from happening.