Case Summaries

Family Law

[05/14] Hofmann v. Sender
The district court's determination that the parties' children were habitually resident in Canada under the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (ICARA), and, therefore, were ordered returned to Canada for further legal proceedings, is affirmed, where: 1) this appeal has not been rendered moot by the fact that the children have been returned to Canada pursuant to the district court's order; and 2) for purposes of the Hague Convention, the parties' last shared intent with respect to their children's residence was that they reside in Canada.

[05/09] In re I.J.
A father's prolonged and egregious sexual abuse of his own child may provide substantial evidence to support a finding that all his children are juvenile court dependents, and here the father's abuse of his daughter supports a determination that his sons are juvenile court dependents.

[04/30] Granger v. Misercola
The Family Court's order awarding petitioner periodic four-hour visits at the prison where he resided, with his child, who was then three years old, is affirmed, where: 1) the lower courts used the appropriate legal standard, applying the rebuttable presumption in favor of visitation and considering whether respondent rebutted the presumption through showing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that visitation would be harmful to the child; and 2) there is support in the record for the finding that the travel would not be harmful to the welfare of the child, and that petitioner made efforts to establish a meaningful relationship with the child.

[04/29] McBurney v. Young
Virginia's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which grants Virginia citizens access to all public records, but grants no such right to non-Virginians, does not violate the Privileges and Immunities Clause, which protects only those privileges and immunities that are "fundamental," nor does it violate the dormant Commerce Clause.

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