Elizabeth Morgan

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Jean Elizabeth Morgan, M.D., Ph.D. (born 1947 in Washington, D.C., USA) is a plastic surgeon who was involved in a widely publicized and long-running child custody case over her daughter Hilary. Morgan claimed that the father, Dr. Eric A. Foretich, an oral surgeon, had sexually abused Hilary. During the course of the case, Morgan was incarcerated for two years. After her release, and when she was legally able to do, Morgan joined Hillary in New Zealand. United States Congress passed two laws as a result of this case. After Morgan sent Hilary into hiding, Foretich never regained his rights to unsupervised visitation with or custody of his daughter.

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[edit] Early career

Morgan, as a surgeon in Washington, D.C., in 1980 published a successful book titled The Making of a Woman Surgeon, which recounted the rigors of her training in this predominantly male profession.

The publication of the book was covered by Reader's Digest and People magazines. Morgan wrote the Reader's Digest article, "Give the Lady a Knife"; the title was presented as having been said by a male surgeon. The People article was titled "Elizabeth Morgan says she learned women surgeons don't have to be as good as men—they have to be better."

[edit] The Hilary Morgan case

Morgan first met Foretich in Fairfax Hospital in Kirkland, Washington, where both were on the staff. Foretich's second marriage was breaking up at the time; after dating Foretich for a few months, Morgan became pregnant, and the two flew to Haiti and were married.

Morgan left Foretich before she came to term; their daughter Hilary Antonia was born August 21, 1982, and the two were divorced later that year. In 1984, after a legal battle, Morgan was awarded custody of the child; Foretich had visitation rights on vacations and alternating weekends.

It was after visitations in early 1985, when Hilary was 2½ years old, that Morgan said her daughter gave the first verbal indications that she had been abused. Eventually, Morgan also accused both of Foretich's parents of sexually assaulting Hilary.

Morgan privately attempted to photograph the evidence, but the photos only led to suggestions that she had produced child pornography.

The primary psychologists on each side, Mary Froning and Elissa Benedek had different fears: Froning claimed to fear for Hilary's safety but Benedek claimed to fear for her own safety when dealing with Morgan. Froning had over 70 sessions with Hilary over a period of 18 months. Another Morgan expert, psychiatrist Dr. David Corwin, spent over 200 hours evaluating Hilary's case.

After a trial, a jury found in favor of Foretich and his parents.

Around this time, Foretich's daughter from another marriage also said she was sexually abused by her father. Her therapist advised not to let the other daughter see Dr. Foretich. In the movie of the case, the daughter's name was "Hayley."

[edit] Prison

After many other inconclusive motions and appeals, the presiding family court judge, Herbert B. Dixon Jr., in 1987 ordered unsupervised visitation for Foretich. Morgan then sent Hilary into hiding with her parents. Judge Dixon then found Morgan to be in contempt of court and sent her to prison.

For the next two years, Morgan's incarceration received a great deal of publicity. In much of it she was portrayed as a model prisoner, and a woman of fortitude. She also convinced many famous and influential people, including Chuck Colson that abuse had indeed occurred.

[edit] Congressional action and flight

See main article at District of Columbia Civil Contempt Imprisonment Limitation Act

This Act allowed Morgan to leave prison by altering local D.C. law, only for custody cases. Morgan's case was mentioned extensively during deliberations.

On September 25, 1989, Morgan was released from prison. She married her fiance Paul Michel in December. In February 1990, Morgan's parents and Hilary were found in New Zealand, where they were located in by a private investigator hired by Foretich. New Zealand chose to maintain the status quo and let Hillary live with her mother and grandparents. At around this time, Hilary's name was changed to Ellen.

[edit] The Elizabeth Morgan Act

See main article at Elizabeth Morgan Act

The Act, passed in 1996, allowed Elizabeth Morgan to return to the U.S. with her daughter without having to share custody with Foretich. Elizabeth and Ellen Morgan returned to the U.S in 1997. In December 2003, a U.S. Court of Appeal decision unanimously struck down the act as unconstitutional, finding that Congress had improperly passed a bill of attainder with the purpose of depriving Foretich specifically of the protection of the laws. By that time, Ellen was no longer a minor, but despite its mootness, Foretich pursued the matter to clear his reputation.

[edit] The case in popular culture

In 1992, a made-for-television movie about this story titled A Mother's Right: The Elizabeth Morgan Story was filmed and aired nationally. Actress Bonnie Bedelia played the part of Morgan. Patricia Neal played Morgan's mother, Antonia. Many consider it to be prejudicial in Morgan's favor.

The legal drama L.A. Law used a similar story as a subplot of the 1989 episode, "One Rat, One Ranger."

[edit] Subsequent events

Morgan now practises medicine back in the United States in the Washington, D.C. area, having also gained a degree in psychology. She operates a medical practice, and offers herself as a "beacon of hope" that protective parents can free their children from harm.

Since her return from New Zealand, Morgan has made many public appearances and speeches, focusing on custody issues, child abuse and mother's rights. She compared Maryland’s family-court judges to the Spanish Inquisition in their potential to inflict cruelty. In her own words:

"Osama bin Laden had nothing to teach me about evil on September 11."

An organization called The Friends of Elizabeth Morgan (which later changed its name to ARCH) was on watchlists of groups that monitor child custody issues.

Ellen Morgan is now an aspiring actress. In September of 2005, Dr. Morgan moved her practice to Los Angeles to spend more time with her daughter.

Antonia Morgan died in Washington, D.C. on April 3, 2006 at the age of 91.

Dr. Foretich lives with his fourth wife and their two boys.

[edit] The Elsa Newman case

In 2002, Morgan was involved as a consultant in another controversial child custody case.

Elsa Newman, an attorney, was in a custody fight with her husband, Arlen Slobodow. Concerned that Newman represented a flight risk, Judge S. Michael Pincus said, "I don't want another Elizabeth Morgan case in my courtroom." According to an online Washingtonian article [1], Newman did in fact consult Morgan, whose emailed advice was:

"I don't have the answers. I only know the choices, which are grim: Give in and accept the incest, kill the abuser, or grab the kids and run."

On January 7, 2002, Newman's close friend, Foreign Service officer Margery Lemb Landry, wearing a ski mask, broke into Slobodow's home while he was sleeping, and with the children present, shot him twice in the leg. Just before shooting him, Landry had planted child pornography in Slobodow's home.

Slobodow did survive; Landry pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to a twenty-year prison term. Newman was convicted of conspiracy in a jury trial, and also received a twenty-year sentence. After their arrests, neither was granted bail. Morgan, in a letter to the presiding judge, supported Newman's release before her conviction.

[edit] Mention in a similar case

On his July 5, 2004 radio show, Larry King made a reference to Morgan in a discussion with Bridget Marks, who was involved in an ongoing public custody case of her own. King cited Morgan as a famous surgeon and Harvard graduate who ran from the jurisdiction of a "rogue judge" (Marks' term), but Marks, who had her lawyer present, demurred, saying, "No, never. I believe that the legal system will correct itself."

Although Marks had been found by the court to have lied in her claims of incest, and was punished with a transfer of custody to her spouse, on March 31, 2005 she regained custody.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

[edit] Press coverage

[edit] Other organizations related to Dr. Morgan

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