Montana Supreme Court removes Lake County judge from child-custody case

In a 5-0 opinion, the Montana Supreme Court took what justices describe as “an extraordinary remedy” of asserting “supervisory control” over a Lake County child-custody case.

The decision, issued Jan. 2, returned a 5-year-old child to the custody of his mother, Shanna Spring ManyWounds of Elmo, and reassigned the case from District Court Judge Deborah “Kim” Christopher to Judge Molly Owen.

In the ruling, justices write that Christopher “erred as a matter of law” and caused a “gross injustice” by abruptly removing the child from his mother’s custody, giving full custody to the father for the next five years, and barring the mother from all contact with her son.