Artist Peter Max’s Daughter Sues N.Y. Judge Over Guardian Talks

Artist Peter Max’s daughter, Libra Max, has filed a lawsuit against Deborah Kaplan, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for the New York City Courts, alleging systemic due process violations in the city’s guardianship courts.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday, claims state court judges routinely meet ex parte, or privately, with court-appointed guardians to discuss matters before them—even where the disputes concern adversarial petitions to remove the guardian.

Kaplan is named as a defendant in her official capacity.

The German-born Max, now 84 and suffering from dementia, has been in ...