An exterior picture of the Joseph P. Mazurek Justice Building in Helena which houses the Montana Supreme Court (Photo by Eric Seidle/ For the Daily Montanan).
Shanna ManyWounds, a mother who had her son unexpectedly taken away from her by a Lake County district court judge last year, said this week she’s disappointed in yet another court order, but she’s also holding out hope for justice.
“It’s a bit frustrating that you can be a good parent and have done nothing wrong and have all of this happen to you and your child,” ManyWounds, of Elmo, said in a phone call Thursday.
The most recent dispute involves an order that could cost ManyWounds thousands of dollars, according to an estimate from one of her lawyers. And it’s for fees the attorney said the court should pay.
In January, the Montana Supreme Court found a judge who later resigned dealt a “gross injustice” in abruptly taking ManyWounds’ child from her at a custody hearing in September.
Judge Deborah Kim Christopher granted custody to the father, who hadn’t spent much time with the child. However, in a rare move, the Montana Supreme Court voided the decision, sent the case back to district court, and assigned a different judge.
ManyWounds went to Oregon to pick up her little boy, now 6 years old, from his father, but she said another recent decision by the court could be a setback. She also said her child has been traumatized by the turmoil.
In September, the parents largely agreed on a parenting plan, but they needed help sorting out a couple of details. After the Supreme Court sent the case back to district court, parenting plan negotiations continued under Judge Molly Owen.
In April, the judge assigned a guardian ad litem, or GAL, for the child.
A guardian ad litem is a trained professional who serves as an independent evaluator, or the court’s eyes and ears, and makes recommendations about the child to the court. The agent of the court talks to parents, teachers, therapists and others to ascertain the child’s best interests.
The order assigning the guardian ad litem said the Montana Supreme Court would pay the fees of the GAL. But a subsequent order in June reversed the decision.
The new order told the parents to pay. In the ruling, Owen said she was vacating the earlier order related to fees based on information from the court administrator of the Montana Supreme Court.
“The Court Administrator, Beth McLaughlin, informed the Court on today’s date that the Court Administrator has no statutory authority to pay the costs,” said the June 7 order. “She stated that the Supreme Court rescinded the authority to pay the costs of a GAL about a decade ago.
“Therefore, the Court vacates its previous order regarding payment of the GAL’s costs and orders that the parties split the costs of the GAL equally.”
Judge Owen and the court administrator could not be reached late Thursday afternoon by email. An out-of-office response from the court administrator said she would be out of the office until Monday.
ManyWounds, however, said she hopes that’s not the final word. She said she’s already accumulated debt from legal fees — her lawyers are doing work pro bono but she paid an initial cost — and from last-minute travel to go to Oregon and pick up her son.
Plus, Lance Jasper, one of her lawyers, said the parents should not have to pay for the court’s mistake: “There wouldn’t have been a need for a guardian ad litem had it not been for what the court did.”
In an email sent to the district court judge on June 8, Jasper said the Montana Supreme Court found the district court caused the damage, and everyone agrees the guardian ad litem is needed. But he said the parents can’t afford it, and he won’t ask the professional to work for free.
Additionally, the court has precluded ManyWounds from bringing a personal claim against the previous judge, he said.
Jasper said Thursday he had not yet heard from the court and intends to file a motion making a similar request. In the email, he said he had preferred not to file such a motion because he believed it would “disgrace” the judicial system.
“I do not want to do that, but I will see that this child gets the resources he needs to correct the damage done to him by the court,” Jasper wrote.
ManyWounds said she wasn’t surprised to have been dealt another blow in the justice system: “You have to understand that after the hearing in September, virtually nothing can surprise me.”
At that hearing, neither parent had asked for the father to be given full custody and the mother to have no contact, as resulted from the judge’s decision. Neither had alleged wrongdoing by the other either.
Since he’s been home, ManyWounds said her child has made some progress, and he’s seeing a therapist on a weekly basis. But she said it’s been difficult to return to “something that looks like normal.”
“It’s been a significant struggle just trying to pick up the pieces,” ManyWounds said. “He’s been pretty well traumatized and set back by what happened.”
She said she doesn’t make a significant amount of money, and she would have to borrow money to cover the costs of the guardian ad litem, but the money isn’t the hardest part about having temporarily lost her son.
“Really, the financial impact of it pales in comparison to the mental and emotional impact on him and me. The money is the least of my worries,” ManyWounds said.
She said her lawyers have been “amazing,” and they are working hard to get a positive outcome for “my kiddo.” Spencer MacDonald of Missoula is also representing her.
She feels frustrated with the court, but she is also trying to stay positive: “I just try to hold out hope that in the end, somebody will do it right. That’s all I can hope for.”
ManyWounds also said her little boy deserves it. At the hearing in September, she said the previous judge told her the child wasn’t a person until he was 18, and ManyWounds disagrees.
“Very close attention needs to be paid, and this little child, he deserves to have close attention paid at this point,” ManyWounds said. “He’s been treated like an object by the court and other people in this.
“People need to realize this is a person. He’s 6, but he’s a person. He deserves better.”
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