Bouknight

The judge in the case of a mother jailed for refusing to divulge her son's whereabouts has reopened media access to hearings -- but has barred The Sun because of what he called "its deliberate editorial decision" to violate a court order.The dispute centers on the newspaper's Jan. 26 publication of a computer-enhanced likeness of the missing son of Jacqueline Louise Bouknight, who has been jailed for nearly seven years. The picture was released by the Baltimore Police Department, which is using the likeness to try to find the boy, Maurice.

BEFORE DAVID Carr, there was Ciara Jobes. Before Ciara Jobes, there was Shamir Hudson. Before Shamir Hudson, there was Rita Fisher. Before Rita Fisher, there was Maurice Miles. The deaths of 2-month-old David, 15-year-old Ciara, 8-year-old Shamir and 9-year-old Rita made headlines because they were beaten and tortured by their parents or guardians. Their deaths were all the more tragic because a public agency knew that they might be at risk. Tormented by those expected to care for and love them, these children were instead betrayed by them.

"The petitioner . . . carries the key of his prison in his own pocket. He can come out, when he will, by making terms with the court that sent him there. But if he chooses to struggle for a triumph, if nothing will content him but a clean victory or a clean defeat, he cannot expect us to aid him. Our duties are of a widely different kind. They consist in discouraging, as much as in us lies, all such contests with the legal authorities of the country."So a judge once wrote to justify keeping a man named Passmore Williamson in jail indefinitely, for disobeying an order of the court.

The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that a Baltimore judge did not have the right to dictate what the media published from sources outside the courtroom as a condition of access to a juvenile court hearing.The case came before the state's highest court after a petition by The Sun, which in the past year has both won and been denied access to hearings in the case of a missing Baltimore boy and his mother, Jacqueline L. Bouknight.Ms. Bouknight was released Oct. 31 after 7 1/2 years in jail for failing to disclose the boy's whereabouts.

A Baltimore judge halted media access to hearings in the Jacqueline L. Bouknight case yesterday, saying that the confidentiality of the juvenile court had been compromised by the publication of a computer-enhanced likeness of Ms. Bouknight's missing son.Judge David B. Mitchell also said The Sun had violated a court order granting it access by publishing a last name for the boy, Maurice, in a caption to the image.The caption published in the Thursday editions of The Sun misidentified the boy as "Maurice Bouknight."

On her first full day of freedom, Jacqueline L. Bouknight said yesterday that she did not spend 7 1/2 years in jail for civil contempt in vain if it meant her son, Maurice, was in a home "where he don't have to be harassed and stuff, like I was."Being incarcerated was "just something I just had to do," Ms. Bouknight said during a brief news conference at the office of her lawyer, M. Cristina Gutierrez. "It was what I believed in. It was right."Judge David B. Mitchell ordered Ms. Bouknight, 29, released from the Baltimore City Detention Center on Tuesday, 2,741 days after she went to jail on a civil contempt order for refusing to produce Maurice.

Jacqueline L. Bouknight, jailed for more than seven years for refusing to divulge the whereabouts of her young son, stands poised to be released next week, due reportedly to a change of heart by state officials who have argued until now that she should remain behind bars.Deputy Attorney General Ralph S. Tyler III, who represents the Baltimore City Department of Social Services in the case, announced his intention to seek Ms. Bouknight's release during a meeting with attorneys in the case yesterday, according to several of the attorneys present.

AFTER ALL THE legal wrangling, the days of national media attention and the years of complete quiet, on Halloween night Jacqueline L. Bouknight stepped from jail, ending a seven-year battle of wills. She never produced her young son, Maurice, as a judge had ordered, nor was she ever charged with a crime against the child. Her release left an overwhelming question: Why did it take so long to get nowhere?Listen to Baltimore Circuit Judge David B. Mitchell, facing the bickering lawyers in front of him Feb. 13, 1991.

Saying he would make another "concession" to a long-incarcerated mother in the hope of finding her missing child, a Baltimore juvenile court judge has stripped custody of the boy from the city's Department of Social Services.According to sources in the case, Judge David B. Mitchell said in a court order that he hoped his actions would speed continuing discussions between Jacqueline L. Bouknight, her attorney and attorneys for her son, Maurice, who has been missing for nearly seven years.Judge Mitchell also suspended hearings in the case to give discussions time to bear fruit.

The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that a Baltimore judge did not have the right to dictate what the media published from sources outside the courtroom as a condition of access to a juvenile court hearing.The case came before the state's highest court after a petition by The Sun, which in the past year has both won and been denied access to hearings in the case of a missing Baltimore boy and his mother, Jacqueline L. Bouknight.Ms. Bouknight was released Oct. 31 after 7 1/2 years in jail for failing to disclose the boy's whereabouts.

AFTER ALL THE legal wrangling, the days of national media attention and the years of complete quiet, on Halloween night Jacqueline L. Bouknight stepped from jail, ending a seven-year battle of wills. She never produced her young son, Maurice, as a judge had ordered, nor was she ever charged with a crime against the child. Her release left an overwhelming question: Why did it take so long to get nowhere?Listen to Baltimore Circuit Judge David B. Mitchell, facing the bickering lawyers in front of him Feb. 13, 1991.

On her first full day of freedom, Jacqueline L. Bouknight said yesterday that she did not spend 7 1/2 years in jail for civil contempt in vain if it meant her son, Maurice, was in a home "where he don't have to be harassed and stuff, like I was."Being incarcerated was "just something I just had to do," Ms. Bouknight said during a brief news conference at the office of her lawyer, M. Cristina Gutierrez. "It was what I believed in. It was right."Judge David B. Mitchell ordered Ms. Bouknight, 29, released from the Baltimore City Detention Center on Tuesday, 2,741 days after she went to jail on a civil contempt order for refusing to produce Maurice.

Jacqueline L. Bouknight finally won release from jail yesterday after spending more than seven years there for civil contempt, still defying a judge's pleas to provide the whereabouts of her son, Maurice, after an emotional hearing in which attorneys alternately called her heroine and villain.Reading a 13-page opinion about the historic case, Baltimore Circuit Judge David B. Mitchell railed against the 29-year-old mother, saying that he found she had abused her child and could still be a danger to him.He barred Ms. Bouknight from having any contact, physical or otherwise, with her son unless a psychological evaluation or some other evidence comes forth to show she is a fit parent.

He would be 9 now -- long past the tiny sailor suit and trusting baby smile he used to wear.His chubby toddler's face with the soft brown eyes would have set about defining itself. He may still have that mop top of thick, curly hair, if he has not shaved it to fall into line with fashion. Somewhere in his bones would lie the physical memory of fractures he suffered just months out of the womb.The child known as "Maurice M." is the biggest element in the case that bears his name, and the smallest.

Saying he was taking the action "with great reluctance," a deputy state attorney general formally asked a judge yesterday to release Jacqueline L. Bouknight, but he also sought to prevent her from contacting the son whose whereabouts she has guarded for more than seven years.The action means that Ms. Bouknight, who has been in jail for civil contempt of court since shortly after her child disappeared in 1988, is likely to be released at a hearing Tuesday.Deputy Attorney General Ralph S. Tyler III has argued for years that Ms. Bouknight should remain jailed as long as there was hope that jail would persuade her to produce the boy, whom she previously abused.

Jacqueline L. Bouknight, jailed for more than seven years for refusing to divulge the whereabouts of her young son, stands poised to be released next week, due reportedly to a change of heart by state officials who have argued until now that she should remain behind bars.Deputy Attorney General Ralph S. Tyler III, who represents the Baltimore City Department of Social Services in the case, announced his intention to seek Ms. Bouknight's release during a meeting with attorneys in the case yesterday, according to several of the attorneys present.

Jacqueline L. Bouknight finally won release from jail yesterday after spending more than seven years there for civil contempt, still defying a judge's pleas to provide the whereabouts of her son, Maurice, after an emotional hearing in which attorneys alternately called her heroine and villain.Reading a 13-page opinion about the historic case, Baltimore Circuit Judge David B. Mitchell railed against the 29-year-old mother, saying that he found she had abused her child and could still be a danger to him.He barred Ms. Bouknight from having any contact, physical or otherwise, with her son unless a psychological evaluation or some other evidence comes forth to show she is a fit parent.

He would be 9 now -- long past the tiny sailor suit and trusting baby smile he used to wear.His chubby toddler's face with the soft brown eyes would have set about defining itself. He may still have that mop top of thick, curly hair, if he has not shaved it to fall into line with fashion. Somewhere in his bones would lie the physical memory of fractures he suffered just months out of the womb.The child known as "Maurice M." is the biggest element in the case that bears his name, and the smallest.

"The petitioner . . . carries the key of his prison in his own pocket. He can come out, when he will, by making terms with the court that sent him there. But if he chooses to struggle for a triumph, if nothing will content him but a clean victory or a clean defeat, he cannot expect us to aid him. Our duties are of a widely different kind. They consist in discouraging, as much as in us lies, all such contests with the legal authorities of the country."So a judge once wrote to justify keeping a man named Passmore Williamson in jail indefinitely, for disobeying an order of the court.

The judge in the case of a mother jailed for refusing to divulge her son's whereabouts has reopened media access to hearings -- but has barred The Sun because of what he called "its deliberate editorial decision" to violate a court order.The dispute centers on the newspaper's Jan. 26 publication of a computer-enhanced likeness of the missing son of Jacqueline Louise Bouknight, who has been jailed for nearly seven years. The picture was released by the Baltimore Police Department, which is using the likeness to try to find the boy, Maurice.