Posted on 10/22/2013 4:21:11 PM PDT by Morgana
FULL TITLE: Judge's decision to allow Lisa Mehos' abortion to be used as evidence in New York custody case causes stir
A holy war broke out in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday over a judge’s decision to allow testimony about a woman’s abortion to be used against her in an ugly custody case.
Lisa Mehos’ lawyer, Emily Jane Goodman, told Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lori Sattler her decision to allow the evidence about her client’s procedure — which happened after her split from banking big Manuel John Mehos — was “scandalous and outrageous.”
“This might go over well in Texas or Mississippi, but not here,” Goodman said.
The explosive topic was first raised last week by Manuel Mehos’ lawyer, Eleanor Alter, who discovered it after subpoenaing his ex-wife’s medical records. She used it in an apparent attempt to paint Lisa Mehos as a hypocrite for having asked to have custody of their two young kids over Easter weekend in 2012.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
As much as I abhor abortion....methinks this rich guy bought himself the right judge. This probably would not be upheld on appeal
Oh I know it will loose in appeal, the femanazis will cry bloody murder.
It sounds like neither of these people should have custody of the kids. The father abouses the mother and the mother kills their sibling. Sad situation all the way around.
Don’t be so sure. I can think of a few reasons where the mothers choice of abortion is very relevant to divorce and custody battle.
Plus there are deep pockets behind this one. I don’t believe the Feminazis have much of a chance of getting this overturned permanently.
Why is Eleanor subpoenaing his ex-wife’s medical records and why did his parents name him Eleanor?
Read it again.
Former Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Emily Jane Goodman was a scofflaw while she served on the bench: She abused the official parking placard that came with her job by leaving her Audi on the street overnight without fear of getting ticketed.
While regulations clearly stated that judges may use such placards only for official business, Goodman would pull up to a metered space near her upper West Side apartment, put the permit on her dashboard and happily leave the vehicle.
It was all very sweet and convenient until these quarters caught Goodman in April , and her bosses at the Office of Court Administration laid down the law to her.
Fast forward to January of this year. Goodman, who had been unhappy that judges had long been denied raises, appeared in a newspaper story announcing that she would step down from the bench to join a newly formed law firm.
Emily Jane Goodman entered the New York legal scene at the perfect moment for feminist activism: 1968. By the next year she had already risked being thrown out of New York State’s highest court for arguing a case while wearing a pantsuit despite being told that it”could not be done.”
Her solo law practice included criminal defense (e.g., representing the Grove Press “I Am Furious Yellow Nine,” including Robin Morgan and Ti-Grace Atkinson, arrested for a sit-in for pro-union and anti-porn organizing).
As a divorce lawyer, she took the rare position of representing women only. She was the founder of the New York Women’s Law Center, where scores of women were taught how to represent themselves in divorce, and learned that they did not have to use their husbands’ names. At the WLC, she edited and helped publish and distribute A Woman’s Guide to Marriage and Divorce in New York, by Nancy Erickson.
On behalf of amici in the 1970 challenge to New York’s abortion laws commenced by Nancy Stearns, Rhonda Copelan, Flo Kennedy, Diane Schulder and Carol Lefcourt, she compared involuntary motherhood to involuntary servitude, i.e., slavery, a violation of the Thirteenth Amendment.
Goodman represented women in employment discrimination including maternity leave, and was an advisor to the National Council of Negro Women on housing discrimination.
In her literary law practice, she successfully sued the publisher of Women and Madness on behalf of author Phyllis Chesler for distortions in the book. She worked for the rights of prostitutes with Margo St. James, founder of COYOTE (Call off Your Old Tired Ethics).
In addition to advocating for battered women, she has served on numerous boards fighting violence against women, and wrote on the subject for The New York Times (1973). Goodman was the coauthor of Women, Money and Power. She continues to teach, write and speak on women’s issues. Since the 1980s she has been a trial judge on the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
