Mother’s Lawyers Claim Bias by Judge : New Squabble Erupts in Batey Custody Battle

Lawyers for the Christian fundamentalist mother of 16-year-old Brian Batey want the judge in the heated custody battle over the youth to disqualify herself, charging the judge’s feminism has biased her.

The challenge to Judge Judith McConnell of San Diego County Superior Court is the latest round in the bizarre, much-publicized contest over the Palm Springs teen-ager, who for years was the subject of a tug-of-war between his fundamentalist mother, Betty Lou Batey, and his homosexual father, Frank Batey.

Squabbling Continues

The squabbling has continued since the June death of Frank Batey, who suffered from AIDS. In July, McConnell, who has presided over aspects of the dispute for three years, granted temporary guardianship of the boy to Craig Corbett, his father’s longtime house-mate and companion. The ruling was made at the request of Brian Batey, who wants to stay in Palm Springs.

Betty Batey’s lawyers intend to fight any permanent award of guardianship rights to Corbett, either at an October hearing or possibly an earlier proceeding. But first, according to the recently filed court documents, they want McConnell replaced.

“Judge McConnell is an active feminist and thus there is substantial doubt as to her capacity to be impartial in this action,” attorneys Cimron Campbell and E. James Jeffries said in the court, which cryptically cite an unexplained “experience” involving a relative of the judge during her childhood in Nebraska as grounds for her disqualification.

McConnell, supervising judge of the Juvenile Court, has been active in women’s Bar groups and is president of the National Assn. of Women Judges. Juvenile Court officials said Wednesday that she is out of state on vacation and could not be reached for comment.

Request Is First for Judge

Michael Roddy, coordinator of the Juvenile Court, said this is the first time that McConnell has been asked to remove herself from a case because of allegations of a feminist bias. He declined to comment on the Batey case, however, citing the confidential nature of most Juvenile Court proceedings.

Under procedures governing challenges to judges, McConnell can disqualify herself or reject the request. If she refuses to step aside, Betty Batey’s lawyers can ask that another judge hear their challenge.

In an interview Wednesday, Corbett dismissed the attempt to disqualify McConnell as “just razzle-dazzle to confuse the issue.” He said Frank Batey’s lawyers had sought her removal early in the case, when many of McConnell’s rulings seemed to favor Betty Batey, only to see the mother’s lawyers come to the judge’s defense.

The disqualification attempt, he said, appeared to be an effort by Concerned Women for America--the right-wing lobbying group headed by fundamentalist activist Beverly LaHaye, which is supplying Betty Batey’s lawyers--to embarrass McConnell.

“Their whole case has been based on this kind of garbage,” he said. “They don’t care what they do to people.”

Campbell declined to discuss the court filing, also on grounds that it is a confidential matter. He did, however, insist it is illogical to suggest that he is attempting to subject McConnell to public embarrassment, given that the court documents were filed under seal and that any proceedings in the matter will be secret.