[Indexed as: (Painter case), “After Child Custody Decision: Protests Deluge Iowa Court,” syndicated (AP), Tucson Daily Citizen (Tx.), Mar. 3, 1966]

DES MOINES – (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court denied a father custody of his 7-year-old son I a recent decision – and set off its greatest public debate in memory.

Dozens of letters, most of them incensed and indignant, have poured into the court clerk’s office since the ruling on young Mark Painter was announced Feb. 8.

Many individuals and officials of divorce reform groups contend that Harold W. Painter, 34, of Walnut Creek, Calif., was the victim of a judicial kidnapping in being refused custody of his son.

The high court said Painter, whose wife was killed in an accident, has lived a Bohemian life – although he has since remarried – and that Mark is better off with his maternal grandparents at Ames, Iowa.

“Aside from the gross injustice of this decision, the decision is a complete departure from established legal precedent and common law that the court is, in essence, writing its own laws,” said Eugene Austin, chairman of the Nebraska Council on Family Law.

“… I was shocked,” said John E. Harrigan of Portland, Maine, New England regional director for United States Divorce Reform Inc. “If one may believe the news reports, an injustice has been done.”

J. B. Waller of Atlanta, editor of a publication devoted to eliminating divorce courts, said:

“If Mr. Painter is a fit and proper father, by what authority does the Iowa Supreme court regulate his religious or political beliefs? Does our judicial system operate under the laws of the U. S. A. or those of the U. S. S. R.?

Supreme Court Justice C. Edwin Moore admits he and the other eight judges were surprised by all the excitement over what they considered a routine child custody case.

He said most of the mail comes from the West Coast and the New York area – very little from Iowa.

Some persons who read the complete opinion, said the justice, change their minds and agreed with the decision keeping Mark in the home of his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Dwight Bannister.

Justice Moore said the Iowa court broke no fresh legal ground in the Painter case, which reversed a district court ruling awarding Mark to his father.