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Federal complaint dismissed over Florida boy’s circumcision

FILE - In this March 10, 2015, file photo, Dennis Nebus, right, of Boca Raton, sits in court with his lawyers May Cain and William Snihur, Jr., in a continuing legal battle with Heather Hironimus, the mother of his son, who has been fighting his efforts to have their son circumcised, in Delray Beach, Fla. Hironimus who fled to avoid the circumcision of her son was arrested Thursday, May 14, for contempt of court, her attorney said. (Mark Randall/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, File)
FILE - In this March 10, 2015, file photo, Dennis Nebus, right, of Boca Raton, sits in court with his lawyers May Cain and William Snihur, Jr., in a continuing legal battle with Heather Hironimus, the mother of his son, who has been fighting his efforts to have their son circumcised, in Delray Beach, Fla. Hironimus who fled to avoid the circumcision of her son was arrested Thursday, May 14, for contempt of court, her attorney said. (Mark Randall/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, File) FILE - In this March 10, 2015, file photo, Dennis Nebus, right, of Boca Raton, sits in court with his lawyers May Cain and William Snihur, Jr., in a continuing legal battle with Heather Hironimus, the mother of his son, who has been fighting his efforts to have their son circumcised, in Delray Beach, Fla. Hironimus who fled to avoid the circumcision of her son was arrested Thursday, May 14, for contempt of court, her attorney said. (Mark Randall/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, File)

By Associated Press 1 min read

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) – An attorney has withdrawn his federal lawsuit on behalf of a woman who sought to make a constitutional case out of her fight to prevent her son from being circumcised.

Thomas Hunker gave no reason for the filing Wednesday, but it signals a likely end to his efforts to move the long-running fight over the 4-year-old boy’s surgery from state to federal court.

It comes two days after a hearing in which a federal judge expressed skepticism whether the case raised civil rights issues that were not addressed in state court.

The child’s mother, Heather Hironimus, remains jailed after ignoring a state judge’s order to appear in court, then fleeing with the boy. She has been warring with the child’s father, who wants the circumcision.