No appeal for Alamo's followers

  WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from
followers of evangelist Tony Alamo who had their
children taken away when they wouldn't agree not to expose them to
his controversial ministry.
     The high court on Tuesday refused to hear an appeal from several
Alamo followers, who sued the Arkansas Department of Human Services
after their children were taken away in 2008.
     Prosecutors won sexual abuse convictions against Alamo in 2009.
Social workers feared the children might someday be abused, and
told the parents to break their financial dependence on Alamo's
ministry. The parents refused.
     The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that the taking of the children
was not a barrier to the parents' constitutional rights to practice
religion.