Kevin Abourezk: Omaha woman fights to keep custody of girls

A legal setback in Elise Mallory’s child custody dispute with the state of Nebraska last February nearly drove the young Omaha Native woman from her alcohol treatment program.

Just a few months earlier, Mallory had celebrated a state supreme court decision that had given her hope of seeing her two daughters soon. The Nebraska Supreme Court had reversed a lower court’s ruling giving custody to the state.

Now, as Mallory worked through treatment at a hospital in Winnebago, she learned the Lancaster County Attorney’s Office would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I almost walked out of treatment,” she said. “It was very hard for me.”

But the 24-year-old Lincoln mother didn't give up.

And on Oct. 7, in her eighth month of sobriety, Mallory celebrated what will be the ultimate victory. The U.S. Supreme Court denied the county attorney’s writ of certiorari, ending the state’s attempts to retain custody.