Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-1034_b8dg.pdf
Page Number: 10.0

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

7 

Opinion of the Court 

vacated the order, finding the District Court’s measures in-
sufficient to mitigate the risk of harm to B. A. S.  Emphasiz-
ing that the District Court’s factual findings provided “am-
ple reason to doubt that Mr. Saada will comply with these
conditions,” the Second Circuit concluded that “the District 
Court erred in granting the petition subject to (largely) un-
enforceable undertakings” without “sufficient guarantees of 
performance.”  930 F. 3d 533, 540, 542–543 (2019).  Because 
the record did “not support the conclusion that there exist 
no  protective  measures  sufficient  to  ameliorate  the  grave
risk  of  harm  B. A. S.  faces  if  repatriated,”  the  court  re-
manded  for  the  District  Court  to  “consider  whether  there 
exist alternative ameliorative measures that are either en-
forceable by the District Court or supported by other suffi-
cient  guarantees  of  performance.”    Id.,  at  543  (emphasis 
added).

To  comply  with  the  Second  Circuit’s  directive,  over  the
course of nine months, the District Court conducted “an ex-
tensive examination of the measures available to ensure B. 
A. S.’s safe return to Italy.”  App. to Pet. for Cert. 12a.  The 
District Court directed the parties to appear for status con-
ferences  and  to  submit  status  reports  and  supplemental
briefs,  and  the  court  corresponded  with  the  U. S.  Depart-
ment of State and the Italian Ministry of Justice.  At the 
court’s instruction, the parties petitioned the Italian courts 
for a protective order, and the Italian court overseeing the 
underlying  custody  dispute  issued  a  protective  order  bar-
ring Saada from approaching Golan for one year.  In addi-
tion, the Italian court ordered that an Italian social services 
agency oversee Saada’s parenting classes and therapy and 
that visits between Saada and B. A. S. be supervised.5 

The District Court concluded that these measures were 
sufficient  to  ameliorate  the  harm  to  B. A. S.  and  again 

—————— 

5 Separately,  the  Italian  criminal  court  dismissed  the  kidnapping

charges against Golan.