Breaking the Jedi Council's usual silence on the issue, a representative issued an explanation of the Jedi Code that forbids the return of the child to its birth-parent.

"We have opened the child's mind to the larger world of the Force," explained Jedi Master Coleman Trebor. "The child is awakened, and to return it to the birth-parents at this stage would be far too dangerous. It is in everyone's best interests and safety for the child to remain in Jedi custody."

A visibly distraught Billane continued her determined campaign that saw her spend what meager funds she had to travel from Ord Thoden to Coruscant. "What about my own code?" she said to reporters on the steps of the Jedi Temple. "I believe that a child should be with her mother, and won't stop until I have Ludi back in my arms."

The custody drama began six months ago, when the child was discovered in the ruins of the Ord Thoden capital of Domitree, after a quake devastated the city. Jedi rescue workers found the child to have Force potential and took the baby girl into custody, naming her Aris-Del Wari.

Standard Jedi procedure would have required parental consent prior to adopting the child into the Jedi order, but the parents were missing and presumed dead. A month later, a convalescing Jonava Billane was found in an outskirt town, and her concerted search for her baby, which she named Ludi, has since led her to Coruscant.

With no established procedure to deal with this situation, Republic Judiciary officials are scrambling to find a resolution. Already Billane's pleas have attracted a popular following, and her formal petition to the Jedi Council, delivered by her sector's representative, Senator Boganni Hrul, made headlines throughout the galaxy.

The People's Inquest, a grassroots Jedi watch-group, has helped Billane on her pursuit. "This is just further evidence that the Jedi order needs to be held accountable to the people who subsidize its operations," said Inquest leader Thrynka Padaunete.

Opinions from the Street

	"Given that the parent never gave her consent, I don't know what the issue it is, The Jedi say it's dangerous, but how can a six-month old child be dangerous?" Lomina Argo Systems Analyst
	"I think this has passed beyond a simple custody dispute, and those involved are just using it to push their own agendas, using that poor woman as a political tool." Hraashi Lool University Student
	"Well, peoples gotta understand that them Jedis gots their rules to live by. It's their rules that have made the galaxy safe. Well, until now, anyways." Slyther Bushforb Private Investigator
	"Why is this still making news? The [expletive deleted] Republic is tearing itself apart, and we're talking about a snot-nosed brat and his whining mother." Wuuden Malnic Courier