Jail for being late for jury selection?

PONTIAC, Mich., March 3 (UPI) -- A Michigan judge has come under fire for sentencing a prospective juror to 24 hours in jail because she arrived late for court with her two infants.

Carmela Khury, a stay-at-home mother in Rochester Hills, Mich., had called Oakland County Circuit Court when she was running late for the second day of jury selection because her mother was having oral surgery, a nanny fell through and her husband was at work, the Detroit Free Press reported.

She showed up at court with her 8-month-old and 3-month-old babies after being told the judge would have her arrested if she did not appear.

Judge Leo Bowman told her to take the babies home Thursday, found her in contempt, ordered her to be a spectator for a murder trial expected to last two weeks and sentenced her to 24 hours in the county jail, to be served after the trial.

Khury, who called her treatment "very upsetting," sat in court Friday and Monday as her mother cared for her children.

Bowman lectured her about being a good citizen and asked if she had learned her lesson, then released her at noon Monday.

In a letter faxed to Bowman, Deborah Green, an official with the State Court Administrative Office, an arm of the Michigan Supreme Court, said the judge had no authority to hold jurors. Green demanded he stop doing so and threatened sanctions.

Bowman, who had been warned last summer by Green to stop harsh treatment of jurors, refused to comment Tuesday.

His decision to order jail time violated Khury's constitutional rights, experts said.

"When you are imposing punishment, and that's what jail is, it becomes criminal contempt," said Wayne State law professor Peter Henning. "She's entitled to due process, a hearing and an attorney."