Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-1034_b8dg.pdf
Page Number: 4.0

Cite as:  596 U. S. ____ (2022) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the 
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to 
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that 
corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

No. 20–1034 
_________________ 

NARKIS ALIZA GOLAN, PETITIONER v. 
ISACCO JACKY SAADA 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT 

[June 15, 2022] 

JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR delivered the opinion of the Court. 
Under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of In-
ternational  Child  Abduction,  Mar.  26,  1986,  T. I. A. S.  No. 
11670,  S.  Treaty  Doc.  No.  99–11  (Treaty  Doc.),  if  a  court 
finds that a child was wrongfully removed from the child’s
country of habitual residence, the court ordinarily must or-
der  the  child’s  return.    There  are,  however,  exceptions  to 
that rule.  As relevant here, a court is not bound to order a 
child’s return if it finds that return would put the child at a
grave risk of physical or psychological harm.  In such a cir-
cumstance, a court has discretion to determine whether to 
deny return. 

In  exercising  this  discretion,  courts  often  consider
whether  any  “ameliorative  measures,”  undertaken  either 
“by the parents” or “by the authorities of the state having
jurisdiction  over  the  question  of  custody,”  could  “reduce
whatever risk might otherwise be associated with a child’s 
repatriation.”  Blondin v. Dubois, 189 F. 3d 240, 248 (CA2 
1999) (Blondin I).  The Second Circuit has made such con-
sideration a requirement, mandating that district courts in-
dependently “examine the full range of options that might