117:. While the bill did not mention Morgan or Foretich by name, its authors admitted that it was specifically intended to free Morgan from jail. After being detained for 25 months, Morgan was released from jail shortly after the act was passed into law in September 1989, and subsequently moved to New Zealand to join her parents and her daughter.
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Morgan's claims, a judge ordered her to allow the child to visit her father without supervision. When Morgan refused to do so, she was held in contempt of court and was indefinitely detained in August 1987. While in jail, Morgan refused to reveal the whereabouts of her daughter, who was living with Morgan's parents in
84:
Dr. Elizabeth Morgan accused her ex-husband, dentist Dr. Eric
Foretich, of sexually abusing their daughter Hilary, then two years old. Morgan, who had primary custody of the child, then attempted to have Foretich's visitation rights revoked. After a police investigation was unable to substantiate
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Wolf again involved himself in the case when he co-sponsored the 1996 rider bill that became the
Elizabeth Morgan Act. The new law was narrowly worded to apply to the circumstances of Morgan's daughter, allowing the child in those circumstances to refuse consent to custody or visitation by her
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father, and preventing the
District of Columbia courts from issuing custody or visitation orders or sanctions against Morgan. Having the protection of the 1996 Congressional act, Morgan and her daughter then returned to the United States.
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128:, who ruled that the law was so narrowly written that it targeted Foretich and treated him as a danger to his child without formal charges, illegally punishing him. The law was
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40:, because it was written to deny rights to a specific father based on his child's own assertion. It was originally introduced as
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The father, Dr. Eric
Foretich, sued against the effect of the act in 1997. On December 16, 2003, the act was overturned by the
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and had no practical effect on the daughter, who was by then 21 and could choose for herself whether or not to see her father.
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375:
25:
101:
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of
Virginia introduced the bill that became the District of Columbia Civil Contempt Imprisonment Limitation Act (
113:). That legislation removed the provision of District of Columbia law that permitted indefinite detention for
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Professor
Timothy M. Hagle, Department of Political Science, The University of Iowa
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of the
Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 (
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United States federal immigration and nationality legislation
255:"Court strikes down law passed for mother who hid daughter"
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Riders to United States federal appropriations legislation
227:"Family Law Armageddon: The Story of Morgan v. Foretich"
376:"Elizabeth Morgan Act and Legislating Family Values"
327:H. Rpt. 101-98, Report to Accompany H.R. 2136, p.3
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247:
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126:U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
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34:U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
417:United States federal child welfare legislation
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143:A Mother's Right: The Elizabeth Morgan Story
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293:Barringer, Felicity (September 26, 1989).
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173:Doris R. Foretich, et al. v. United States
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407:Acts of the 104th United States Congress
342:"Morgan vs. Foretich Twenty Years Later"
192:"Appeals Court Rules Against Morgan Law"
190:Leonning, Carol D. (December 17, 2003).
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7:
267:. December 16, 2003. Archived from
295:"Prison Releases a Defiant Mother"
107:Tooltip Public Law (United States)
63:Tooltip Public Law (United States)
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340:Henry, Emily (February 4, 2009),
175:, 351 F.3d 1198 (D.C.App. 2003)
225:Carbone, June (June 1, 2007).
1:
305:. p. A18. Archived from
26:104th United States Congress
443:
92:In 1989, Representative
80:In 1985 Washington, DC
154:Palm Sunday Compromise
48:. It was passed as a
18:Elizabeth Morgan Act
271:on December 3, 2007
197:The Washington Post
303:The New York Times
28:that was declared
38:bill of attainder
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380:JONATHAN TURLEY
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149:Jonathan Turley
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82:plastic surgeon
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46:Thomas M. Davis
32:in 2003 by the
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115:civil contempt
98:H.R. 2136
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67:104–205 (text)
54:H.R. 3675
42:H.R. 1855
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412:Child custody
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358:on 2016-06-11
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384:. Retrieved
382:. 2007-11-20
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360:, retrieved
356:the original
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269:the original
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206:. Retrieved
202:the original
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352:Los Angeles
87:New Zealand
36:as being a
401:Categories
386:2023-03-14
362:2022-12-20
208:2022-12-20
160:References
94:Frank Wolf
76:Background
44:, by Rep.
347:LA Weekly
232:June 10,
136:See also
103:Pub. L.
59:Pub. L.
24:of the
275:Jun 4,
111:101–97
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70:(PDF)
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