Nation IN BRIEF : MICHIGAN : Mother to Appeal Custody Decision

A mother who lost custody of her 3-year-old daughter because she put the child in day care while she attended classes at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor asked an appeals court in Detroit to block the judge’s order while the decision is appealed. Jennifer Ireland’s attorney, Julie Field, asked the Michigan Court of Appeals to delay the transfer of custody of Maranda ordered by Macomb County Circuit Judge Raymond Cashen. Cashen said Ireland must surrender the girl on Aug. 11 to the girl’s father, Steven Smith. Cashen said the girl would be better off with Smith, whose mother is a full-time homemaker willing to care for the child. Smith, 20, and Ireland, 19, never married. He sued for custody last year. Smith, who has a court date scheduled for Aug. 11 on charges that he beat Ireland in 1992, is a community college student who lives with his parents.