Monasky v. Taglieri
Issues
(1) When a parent removes a child to a foreign state in a case of disputed custody, and the child was too young to acclimate to her surroundings in the previous state, does the Hague Convention’s “habitual residence” standard require the parents to have actually agreed that they intended to raise the child in the previous state to trigger the Hague Convention’s return remedy?
(2) Must appellate courts review lower court determinations of a child’s habitual residence de novo, under a deferential version of de novo review, or for clear error?
This case arises out of a custody dispute between an Italian father, Domenico Taglieri, and an American mother, Michelle Monasky, whose marriage had deteriorated, and where the mother had removed the child to the United States before a court could determine the parents’ custody rights. To determine whether the child must be returned to Italy, the Supreme Court must decide whether to uphold the Sixth Circuit’s order to return the child based on its affirmation of the district court’s determination that the child habitually resided in Italy. Monasky argues that the Hague Convention’s text supports an actual-agreement standard for habitual residence, and that the Hague Convention does not contemplate courts imposing habitual residence on a child when the child’s situation in the state would be precarious and the child lacks meaningful connections with the state. She further argues that the statute, appellate history, and the mixed legal and factual nature of habitual residence support de novo review. Taglieri responds that the lower courts properly applied a fact-sensitive analysis of the child’s situation in Italy and, furthermore, that if “actual agreement” were required, the Hague Convention would under-protect children in hotly disputed custody cases who most need protection. He also contends that clear-error review should apply because habitual residence issues are more factual than legal, and because such review is more expedient, consistent with the Hague Convention’s aims. The outcome of this case will have implications for international child abduction and custody cases involving claims of domestic violence.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
(1) Whether a district court’s determination of habitual residence under the Hague Convention should be reviewed de novo, as seven circuits have held, under a deferential version of de novo review, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit has held, or under clear-error review, as the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 4th and 6th Circuits have held; and (2) whether, when an infant is too young to acclimate to her surroundings, a subjective agreement between the infant’s parents is necessary to establish her habitual residence under the Hague Convention.
In 2011, Petitioner Michelle Monasky, an American, and Respondent Domenico Taglieri, an Italian, got married in Illinois where they met. Taglieri v. Monasky at 406. Two years later, they moved to Milan, Italy to pursue their careers. Id. In March 2014, Taglieri hit Monasky in the face.
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Additional Resources
- Sabrina Eaton, U.S. Supreme Court to Hear International Child Custody Dispute from Cleveland Area, Cleveland.com (June 10, 2019).
- Gina Carrano, High Court Picks Up Case of U.S. Mom on the Run, Courthouse News Service (June 10, 2019).
- Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson, Justices Will Take International Child Custody Case, Bloomberg Law: Big Law Business (June 10, 2019).
- Richard Wolf, International Child Custody Battle Between Ohio and Italy Will Get Supreme Court Hearing, USA Today (June 10, 2019).