Posted on 12/29/2009 5:24:43 PM PST by Bodleian_Girl
A Rutland Family Court judge has refused to delay an order that transfers custody of a child from a Virginia mother to her former lesbian partner in Fair Haven.
But with the whereabouts of Lisa Miller and 7-year-old Isabella Miller presently "unknown," it remains to be seen whether the first of its kind parent custody switch takes place when the court order takes effect on New Year's Day.
Miller, who renounced homosexuality, and her former partner Janet Jenkins have been battling over visitation rights since they ended their civil union in Vermont in 2003. After the pair split, Miller returned to her home state of Virginia while Jenkins remained in Fair Haven.
After finding Miller in contempt of court earlier this year for denying Jenkins access to Isabella, Judge William Cohen said he decided the only way to ensure the child equal access to both parents was to switch custody and he issued an order requiring the transfer be made by Jan. 1, 2010.
Miller's attorneys filed a motion earlier this month asking Cohen to delay his order until an appeal in the Virginia court system — regarding whether that state needed to enforce the Vermont order — was decided.
But in a two-page decision issued by Cohen, the judge said Miller failed to meet the legal burden required to delay the order in part because she has not appeared in court nor spoken with her attorneys about the case for more than a month.
"Ms. Miller has not demonstrated that she is entitled to a stay. … Instead, it appears that Ms. Miller has ceased contact with her attorneys and disappeared with (Isabella). … Such conduct does not show that a stay is warranted," Cohen wrote.
The whereabouts of Miller couldn't be determined Monday. Miller's principal lawyers in Orlando, Fla., could not be reached Monday afternoon.
Jenkins' attorney, Middlebury lawyer Sarah Star, said she didn't know where Miller was, but hoped she was still at her home in Virginia and was merely not communicating with her attorneys. Asked what would happen if Miller didn't bring Isabella to Jenkins by Jan. 1, Star said she wouldn't speculate about what actions the court might take. However, she said, Jenkins was appealing Miller to comply with the court order.
"My client is asking, almost pleading, Ms. Miller to not make it harder than it is," Star said. "It's a difficult transition but as adults she is asking her to not make it any harder than it needs to be."
Difficulties inherent in the transition — which places Isabella in a home she hasn't lived in since she was an infant — were highlighted in the motion for a stay on the judge's order.
"The potential effect of any change in Isabella's housing, school, community and environment could be to 'induce devastating trauma,'" Liberty Counsel attorney Rena Lindevaldsen said quoting a doctor who testified in the case.
Lindevaldsen also argued that Jenkins had shown a "disdain" for Miller's Christian beliefs — including the belief that homosexuality is a sin. She said Isabella, who attends a Christian school, shares her mother's beliefs.
But Star argued in a counter-filing that Cohen should stick with his original order, which found that the difficulties inherent in the custodial transfer were outweighed by the benefit Isabella would derive from having a relationship with both parents. Jenkins is a legally recognized parent in Vermont.
"(Isabella) has a right to have a relationship with both of her parents and the granting of a stay would further delay reunification," she wrote.
brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com
But the MSM told me that people are born this way, that it is not a choice, that it is in their genes and that is why they need all those special rights...
Also, the news outlets are not mentioning the fact that when the lesbian did have visitation rights, she forced the then 3 year old Isabella to bathe naked with her.
This woman needs to stay underground for ten years. Not as difficult as one might think. All you need is one good ally.
THIS is the end result of “gay marriage”, and why I am so opposed to it.
Amen. Legally this case is extremely troubling. The child was born in Virginia and has lived in VA most of her life, but the Vermont court to control over the case and overruled VA, and the SCOTUS let that stand.
So now, any state that ok’s homosexual marriages can force it’s rulings upon a state that doesn’t.
I hope she’s on the run...pray she is...
And to ANY permutation of it, whether "civil unions", "domestic partnerships", etc. - ANY official legitimization of homosexual relationships will have this as an end result.
Did the article mention that it will be difficult for Ms. Miller to obtain custody if she is serving 20 years in prison for kidnapping?
Not the full story as shown by the AP report below. I DON'T recommend civil disobedience. But if I did, I would be willing to shelter this woman and child in the underground railroad. God's law trumps Caesar's.
From the AP
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_lesbian_custody/print
Well, if it isn’t our friendly token homo, trumandogz. Sorry, idiot, this doesn’t rise to the level of “kiddnapping” - it’s her own flesh-and-blood child with no evidence proven that the child is being raised in anything other than a wholesome environment, contrary to evidence presented regarding the unrelated dyke. Despite what irrational decision a radical liberal judge conjures up, I’m confident that Miller will get to keep her child and not go to prison.
May God keep the Millers hidden from evil.
Yes, we are only to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s. People don’t belong to Caesar.
I'd be on board, too. But you have to know that the homo-mafia would spare no expense to hunt down this affront to their cause, damn the child's interests. They are the most vile, hateful, vindictive bunch of excrement on the face of the earth, and will destroy anyone who gets in the way of their agenda.
My guess this is where she is.
At the very least, Ms. Miller is refusing to abide by a court order and that in itself can lead to jail time and courts do not grant custody to people in jail.
How liberals like to pre-emptively condemn those they disagree with. Miller is refusing to abide by a court order? How? She has until January 1st to relinquish custody. What is the date of this article?
Sorry folks but Miller doesn’t exactly sound very stable to me (not that her ex-wife does either).
This is a real mess but imparting sainthood on Lisa Miller just doesn’t make sense.
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