Mother Imprisoned 25 Months Is Freed

Plastic surgeon Elizabeth Morgan, the focus of a bitter child custody battle that has received widespread national attention, was presented with a dozen yellow roses by her fiance as she left prison Monday for the first time in 25 months.

Morgan had been in a Washington, D.C., jail since hiding her daughter Hilary, now 7, in defiance of a court order that she produce the child for unsupervised visits with her father, Dr. Eric Foretich. Morgan has charged her former husband, an oral surgeon, with sexually abusing Hilary, a charge he has vehemently denied.

Morgan, still dressed in her orange, prison-issue jumpsuit when she emerged from jail, was met by her attorney and U.S. Appeals Judge Paul R. Michel, her fiance.

About two hours later, she was at a press conference dressed in a stylish print dress, looking pale despite newly applied makeup.

“I’m still trying to adjust to the free world,” she said. “It really feels like being born again . . . . I didn’t expect to get out of jail. Things didn’t work out for me before, and I didn’t expect them to ever work out for me again.”

Release Based on New Law

The D.C. Court of Appeals on Monday ordered the D.C. Superior Court to free Morgan, 43, after her attorneys filed papers seeking her release based on a law signed by President Bush on Saturday. The law, specially written for Morgan, places a one-year limit on civil contempt imprisonments in child custody cases in the District of Columbia.

Morgan’s release culminated a day of legal wrangling between her attorneys and those representing Foretich, who sought to challenge the constitutionality of the new law.

Elaine Mittleman, Foretich’s lawyer, said the law infringed on the authority of the judicial branch to enforce its orders. The court of appeals said Morgan’s release does not influence future court proceedings regarding the constitutionality of the law, leaving open the possibility she could be returned to jail.

Mittleman also complained that the authorities are failing to search for Hilary.

‘She Misses Me’

Morgan said of Hilary: “She’s happy where she is. She’s made remarkable improvements in the last two years, recovering . . . . She misses me, as I miss her, but has no desire to return if it means seeing her father again.”

Asked what message she’d like to send Hilary, Morgan said: “I’d tell her, ‘You’re a wonderful girl. Every minute was worth it. I love you and I hope that the last two years were the beginning of a lifetime of safety.’ ”

Morgan was sent to jail Aug. 28, 1987, by Superior Court Judge Herbert Dixon Jr., who found her in civil contempt for failing to produce Hilary. Dixon, who said he found the evidence of sexual abuse inconclusive, ruled that Foretich was entitled to visitation rights.

Foretich has agreed that Hilary was sexually abused, but he has accused his former wife of abusing her. He has also said Morgan is insane.

Foretich said Monday night that he was not surprised by the order releasing Morgan. “She’s a media star and coercion was bound not to work because of that,” he said.

Symbol for Rights Groups

Morgan’s contempt jailing was believed to be one of the longest in history, and her case became a cause celebre for women’s rights groups and others--particularly mothers who claim that their children have been abused by non-custodial fathers.

Her supporters saw her as a national symbol, a woman who sacrificed her own freedom to protect her child. Further, they viewed her as an innocent victim of a judicial system that failed in its responsibility to protect an abused child.

Her detractors saw her as an arrogant individual who considered herself superior to the law.

Morgan vowed to continue to keep Hilary’s whereabouts secret. She said her immediate plans are to get a haircut and to have her teeth cleaned. She added she “possibly” would marry in the coming months.