Sacramento Superior Court Controversy: Judge Matthew Gary Orders Indigent, Disabled Parent To Pay Attorney Fee Sanctions Based on "Body Language"

Judge Matthew Gary assessed draconian attorney fee sanctions against a disabled, indigent family court parent without an attorney based on her "body language," according to court records from the case. 

The appellate brief excerpt embedded at the bottom of this post recounts one instance of Judge Matthew Gary's misconduct in the Susan Ferris case, in connection with an illegal attorney fee sanctions order. The appeal in the case is pending at the controversial 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento. 

The embedded document package also includes the court reporter transcript from a hearing in the case recording that Gary ordered Ferris to pay $2,500 to the opposing attorney, Timothy Zeff, based on Ferris' "body language." Zeff's partner, Scott Buchanan, is a part-time judge in the same court. 

Court records indicate that the judge pro tem conflict of interest was not disclosed as required by state law. The conflict disclosure violation has occurred in hundreds of other cases involving temporary judge lawyers.

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Hon. Matthew J. Gary Misconduct: Susan Ferris Case and Appeal Front Page News at Sacramento Bee

Judge Matthew Gary Abuse of Disabled, Unrepresented Mom Results in Landmark Appeal to Establish Constitutional Right to Counsel in Civil Cases 

The Sacramento Bee today published a front page story about the pending appeal in the Sacramento Family Court Susan Ferris case. Sacramento Family Court News has been covering the case for more than a year and has published several articles, including an exclusive video interview with Susan Ferris. Ferris is represented on appeal by a team of lawyers led by prominent San Francisco attorney James Brosnahan of the international law firm Morrison & Foerster.   

"This is at the point where a lot of us think it's a disgrace," Brosnahan said. "You can't take someone's child and that person doesn't have an attorney when you do it...It's an outrage," Brosnahan explained to Sacramento Bee reporter Brad Branan.  

Click here to read the full article at the Bee. For a list of SFCN articles about the case, including our exclusive Susan Ferris interview, click here.   

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