Posted on 01/01/2010 2:04:35 PM PST by Skooz
A woman at the center of a complex dispute with her former lesbian partner defied a court order to give up custody of her 7-year-old daughter, an attorney said Friday.
A Vermont judge had ordered Lisa Miller to turn over daughter Isabella to Janet Jenkins at 1 p.m. Friday at the Falls Church, Va., home of Jenkins' parents.
Miller did not show up with the girl, said Sarah Star, Jenkins' Vermont-based attorney. Jenkins has notified Fairfax County, Va., police that Isabella is missing, Star said.
"She's very disappointed, obviously," Star said. "She's very concerned about Isabella and asks that if anybody sees Isabella, that they please contact the authorities."
Quantcast Miller and Jenkins were joined in a Vermont civil union in 2000. Isabella was born to Miller through artificial insemination in 2002. The couple broke up in 2003, and Miller moved to Virginia, renounced homosexuality and became an evangelical Christian.
When Vermont Family Court Judge William Cohen dissolved the couple's civil union, he awarded custody to Miller but granted liberal visitation rights to Jenkins.
The supreme courts of Virginia and Vermont ruled in favor of Jenkins, saying the case was the same as a custody dispute between a heterosexual couple. The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear arguments on it.
Cohen awarded custody to Jenkins on Nov. 20 after finding Miller in contempt of court for denying Jenkins access to the girl. The judge said the only way to ensure equal access to the child was to switch custody.
But Cohen also noted that it appeared Miller had stopped speaking to her attorneys and "disappeared" with the child.
Miller's last known address is in Forest, Va. A telephone number listed for her at that address rang unanswered Friday.
Her attorney, Mathew D. Staver, the law school dean at Liberty University, did not respond to a request through an assistant for comment.
Well, then Ms. Miller needs to show evidence and prove that her former lesbian lover has in fact molested the child.
Would you subject the child to sexual abuse just to punish the biological mother for the bad decisions she made in the past - for which she has since repented?
Any sexual abuse would be a criminal matter and as far as I can tell, neither of the women have been charged with molestation of a child.
And yes, simply because a person repents for their past actions, does not absolve them of responsibility and commitment.
If that were the case, we could open the prison doors on Monday morning and let out all those prisoners who have repented.
For that matter, we could release everybody from contracts simply because they have claimed to have found religion.
This goes a little deeper than the courts of Vermont as courts in Virginia and the SCOTUS have agreed with that VT Court.
Well, if Jenkins can prove that she is the father, then Miller can give her visitation rights. Otherwise, I believe that child visitation sould be between father and mother only.
For artificial insemination, it should only be the mother. (Tough cookies, Jenkins).
What the hell is wrong with these judges?
Her daughter was never adopted by the lesbian either.
The child was born in Virginia and has lived her whole life, except for 16 months in Virginia, which does not recognize homosexual unions.
So if a married couple undergoes IVF due to the husband's infertility and they are later divorced, the husband who acted as father has no paternal rights?
“Lisa Miller has a 6 year record of a changed life.
Her daughter was never adopted by the lesbian either.”
So, it is your view that after six years of a “changed life” that we should no longer be held responsible for the actions we took while leading a lifestyle that you object?
If that is the case, where does Jenkins have a claim?
Absolutely not. She still has to pay the piper. But this is obviously a miscarriage of justice when a judge can create law from the bench.
Since when does being a sinner means you have to pay for a bad ruling from a bad judge?
Yeah, I hope she finally finds a nice wife to settle down with and raise her daughter.
Go, bio-mom.
They had a civil union in Vermont. A judge in Vermont gave credence to the lesbian ex and gave her parental rights even though the child was born and raised in Virginia. The lesbian ex never sought to adopt the child and never expressed any desire to do so until she discovered that her ex (the child’s mother) had become a Christian.
The poor, poor child...everyone else involved has a room reserved in he!!.
Bad judge?
Courts in VT, VA and the SCOTUS are on board with the current decission, there is nit another court where Ms. Miller can go.
That confuses me...has Jenkins adopted the child? Is Jenkins listed on the birth certificate?
Any other stepparent would have no legal standing. Why is Jenkins different?
The good news is that Fairfax County officials have declined to investigate the matter, when contacted by the lesbian.
Which lesbian?
Jenkins never adopted the child and never wanted to. When she did have visitation rights she rarely exercised them.
The one who is currently a lesbian, the one who has no biological or adoptive ties to the child.
I had to go through a nasty situation simular. But not going into details.
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