Misty Copeland

"The dismissal of the emancipation petition accomplished Sylvia's main goal of keeping the family bonds intact and strong, without interference by third parties.... Another concern of Sylvia in filing a request for restraining orders was that she did not believe it was in Misty's best interest to have continuing contact with the Bradleys. In the sworn declarations filed by the Bradleys in response to the restraining order they said that "we have not and will never do anything to interfere with Misty's relationship with her mother.... Since Sylvia has accomplished all of the goals that she intended to achieve when she filed her papers with the court we have chosen not to proceed to seek an injunction in this matter." —Gloria Allred
Copeland lived and trained with Cynthia and Patrick Bradley for nearly three years, ending in 1998. During that time she pursued independent study for tenth grade. After Copeland returned from her summer 1998 San Francisco Ballet experience, her mother informed her that she would be staying with her and not resuming her study with the Bradleys. Copeland was distraught with fear that she would not be able to dance. She had heard the term emancipation while in San Francisco; the procedure was common among young performers. The Bradleys introduced Copeland to Steven Bartell, a lawyer who explained the emancipation petition process. Copeland says she understood the process as a way to make everything better. The Bradleys encouraged her to be absent when the emancipation petition was delivered to her mother. Copeland ran away from home for three days and stayed with a friend.
After her mother reported Copeland missing, she was told about the emancipation petition. Three days after running away, Copeland was taken to the police station by Bartell, who filed emancipation papers. Copeland's mother subsequently applied for a restraining order, which included the Bradleys' five-year old son who had been Copeland's roommate. The order was partly intended to preclude contact between the Bradleys and Copeland, but it did not have proper legal basis, since there had been no stalking and no harassment.
In late 1998, a custody controversy occurred involving Copeland. The case was highly publicized in the press (especially Los Angeles Times and Extra), starting in August and September 1998. Parts of the press coverage spilled over into op-ed articles. In the case, which was heard in Torrance in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, DelaCerna claimed that the Bradleys had brainwashed Copeland into filing suit for emancipation from her mother, and DelaCerna, who was represented by Gloria Allred, filed a series of restraining orders against Bartell, the lawyer who filed the emancipation charges on behalf of her daughter. Allred claimed that the Bradleys had turned Copeland against her mother by belittling DelaCerna's intelligence. The Bradleys were not intimidated by the suits and said they were willing to enforce the management contract, which gave them authority and rights to twenty percent of Copeland's earnings until she became eighteen, via the legal system.