Jurisdictional Boomerang: How the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act Amplifies Hardship for Domestic Violence Survivors

When a domestic violence survivor chooses to flee her home state with her children, her decision to seek refuge from an abusive partner can trigger countless consequences—personal, financial, and legal. She could be accused of kidnapping her children across state lines. Her decision to leave could result in a court order authorizing her children to return to the abusive partner. She could also lose her job or become homeless because of the time and resources she expends litigating an interstate custody dispute. This predicament inadvertently forces her to decide between two desolating options. She can return to the dangerous situation in the state from which she just fled. But in that state, she is unlikely to have the social group and support system she needs. She is also likely to be financially vulnerable. And if she is forced to return to the home state, the high rate of recidivism in domestic violence cases will likely cause her, and perhaps her children, to experience further violence at the hands of an abusive partner. If this survivor chooses not to return, however, she might find herself embroiled in a complex interstate child custody dispute that financially saddles her and requires her to defend herself in multiple forums. To make matters worse, the UCCJEA’s shortcomings, both in its inherent procedural features and application in state courts, can intensify her personal trauma, exacerbate her legal issues, and even violate her federal and constitutional rights. This Article articulates the unique procedural issues that specifically affect domestic violence survivors in interstate child custody litigation. In actions where survivors flee across state lines with their children to escape abuse, they must overcome several procedural hurdles in order to maintain or obtain custody of their children. The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (“UCCJEA”) is the uniform statute that governs how a court makes procedural determinations in child custody actions after one parent moves their children from the children’s home state to another state (hence “interstate” child custody disputes). In child custody actions where domestic violence is a pertinent factor, the UCCJEA causes unique problems for survivors. This Article describes this phenomenon as jurisdictional boomerang: a scenario where a domestic violence survivor is forced, because of a court’s jurisdictional determinations under the UCCJEA, to return to the state in which her abuser resides after she has fled to another state to keep herself and her children safe from further harm. This Article offers two solutions to eradicate jurisdictional boomerang. The first solution proposes revisions to the UCCJEA’s statutory construction and provisions. These changes can enhance state courts’ ability to make fair jurisdictional determinations under the UCCJEA. The second solution outlines a mechanism for federal courts to step in when interlocutory decrees issued by state courts or action on the part of state officials acting under color of state law violate survivors’ rights under federal law or the Constitution.