DOMESTIC ABUSE TAKES BIG WIN BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT
Before I formally retired I did a lot of work in federal court under the Hague Convention Custody Treaty. It basically says our federal courts decide if the custody battle for the child[ren] should be in the U.S. or another country. In most cases the State Department had to hire counsel to represent parents of foreign parents because they did not have the money to hire a lawyer. This Italian man had the money.
The lawyers hired by the State Department were not the brightest bulbs in the room. The translators they would hire were not competent. The federal judges decided my translations of the foreign law in any number of Latin American countries were superior to the translators hired by the lawyers hired by the State Department. Language is not words, it is substance.
IN TODAY'S CASE THE COURT RULED A FINDING OF DOMESTIC ABUSE IS ENOUGH FOR THE U.S. PARENT TO WIN THE RIGHT TO CONDUCT THE CUSTODY BATTLE IN THE U.S.
She married an Italian man, and moved to Italy where she had her child. She came to the U.S. with her child under the guise of visiting her family. She stayed and moved for custody based on domestic abuse. She lost at every level in federal court and was ordered to return the child to Italy for a custody battle to occur in Italy.
Today the Supreme Court found the lower courts overread the Hague Convention and that once there is a finding of domestic abuse the case must be heard in the U.S.
I have done a lot of these cases, and the courts have consistently ruled you must look beyond just domestic abuse. This was a major victory for the victims of domestic abuse.
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