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.
Miller has another appeal in Virginia scheduled for later this month that the Vermont Judge is ignoring. Also, the General Assembly may write a special bill for her to fix the problem.
TFB in my book. She wanted the gay lifestyle then she gets all of the treatment that goes with it. Defying the court order for visitation was stupid and the judge did her like he would do anyone else for being in contempt.
I would assume they found some full faith and credit loophole to use, all of these reports never show a link to the actual court orders. It’s funny how that never seems to apply to my concealed permit. It is time for the General Assembly to meet again in January and I am sure that Liberty University has some bills to be considered to fix the problem.
She defied a court order and that’s why she lost custody.
She picked a dyke to be the “daddy” for her baby. She ends the relationship and goes a different way. Okay, that’s her call but having chosen to bring a child into this world she doesn’t then get to deny her former “whatcha macallit” access to the kid.
sometimes, you have to draw a line in the sand somewhere. I don’t blame her one bit for going into hiding, but she has to leave the counrty to make this work.
“I hope this woman remains free until the child is an adult.”
I hope the child isn’t screwed for life. Sounds like she is surrounded by nuts.
VT is where the couple married and that’s where the custody agreement is filed. VA is likely following a reciprocity agreement of some sorts. Parents cannot cross state lines and expect the courts of the new state to carry their water for them.
To protect a child, yes.
Like I said, my wife sometimes works in family law, representing children and it is not uncommon for a parent to not be honest about the other parent.
EVIL VILE Judge.
You are right.....Mrs. Miller has turned her life around.
Yes,in the past that's been the case.But today,thanks to filthy state legislators/voters/courts in states like VT there are definitions of the word "parent" that are accepted in one and not in another.Kinda like two guys claiming to be "married".Perfectly cool in,say,Massachusetts but anything but cool in,say,Texas.
Amen.....we are living in END TIMES??? How much MORE immoral can we get as a country?? Our leaders are totally immoral and we are right behind.
Heh.. Another one of those stories with nobody to root for.
Apparently she does, though she has to go to some unusual lengths.
And she should.
You seem to suggest, a la Javert, that the law is all.
Ditto. I have an extra room.
>> TFB in my book.
For the innocent child?
I’d risk “hard time” to help her and her child. Some of us would have a much harder time if we could help and did not.
“You are right.....Mrs. Miller has turned her life around.”
Are you sure about that?
Or should courts bestow favor upon all those that claim to have given-up a previous lifestyle and found Christ?
She is the biological mother. She has raised her from day one.
The other woman has no familial ties to the child whatsoever.
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