Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/568/165/
Timestamp: 2019-10-16 21:40:24
Document Index: 609402194

Matched Legal Cases: ['§11601', '§3533', 'Art. 2', 'Art. 11', '§1', '§2', '§2', '§2253', '§2255', '§2', '§6', 'Art. 1']

Chafin v. Chafin :: 568 U.S. 165 (2013) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center
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Chafin v. Chafin, 568 U.S. 165 (2013)
The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction requires contracting states to order a child returned to her country of habitual residence upon finding that the child has been wrongfully removed to or retained in the contracting state. The International Child Abduction Remedies Act, 42 U. S. C. 11601, implements the Convention. Chafin, a U.S. citizen, married a United Kingdom citizen (mother), in Germany, where they had a daughter, E. C. When Chafin was deployed with the military to Afghanistan, mother took E. C. to Scotland. When Chafin was transferred to Alabama, mother traveled there with E. C. Chafin filed for divorce and custody. Mother filed a petition under the Convention and ICARA. The district court concluded that E. C.’s country of habitual residence was Scotland. In Scotland, mother was granted interim custody and a preliminary injunction prohibiting Chafin from removing E. C. The Eleventh Circuit dismissed Chafin’s appeal as moot. The Supreme Court vacated and remanded. Return of a child to a foreign country does not render appeal of a return order moot. The Chafins continue to contest where their daughter will be raised. Chafin’s claim for re-return cannot be dismissed as so implausible that it is insufficient to preserve jurisdiction; his prospects of success are not pertinent to mootness. Even if Scotland were to ignore a re-return order, U. S. courts would continue to have personal jurisdiction over mother and could command her to take action under threat of sanctions. Enforcement of the order may be uncertain, but that does not typically render cases moot. If cases were to become moot upon return of a child, courts would be more likely to routinely grant stays, to prevent loss of any right to appeal, conflicting with the Convention’s mandate of prompt return.
(a) Article III restricts the power of federal courts to “Cases” and “Controversies,” and this “requirement subsists through all stages of [the] proceedings,” Lewis v. Continental Bank Corp., 494 U. S. 472 . No case or controversy exists, and a suit becomes moot, “when the issues presented are no longer ‘live’ or the parties lack a legally cognizable interest in the outcome,” Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc., 568 U. S. ___, ___. But a case “becomes moot only when it is impossible for a court to grant any effectual relief whatever to the prevailing party,” Knox v. Service Employees, 567 U. S. ___, ___. As “long as the parties have a concrete interest, however small, in the outcome of the litigation, the case is not moot,” ibid. Pp. 5–6.
(b) Because the Chafins continue to vigorously contest the question of where their daughter will be raised, this dispute is very much alive. This case does not address “a hypothetical state of facts,” Lewis, supra, at 477, and there continues to exist between the parties “that concrete adverseness which sharpens the presentation of issues,” Camreta v. Greene, 563 U. S. ___, ___. Pp. 6–11.
(1) Mr. Chafin seeks typical appellate relief: reversal of the District Court determination that E. C.’s habitual residence was Scotland and, upon reversal, an order that E. C. be returned to the United States. The question is whether such relief would be effectual. In arguing that this case is moot because the District Court has no authority to issue a re-return order either under the Convention or pursuant to its inherent equitable powers, Ms. Chafin confuses mootness with the merits. See, e.g., Powell v. McCormack, 395 U. S. 486 . Mr. Chafin’s claim for re-return cannot be dismissed as so implausible that it is insufficient to preserve jurisdiction, and his prospects of success are therefore not pertinent to the mootness inquiry. As to the effectiveness of any relief, even if Scotland were to ignore a re-return order, this case would not be moot. The U. S. courts continue to have personal jurisdiction over Ms. Chafin and may command her to take action under threat of sanctions. She could decide to comply with an order against her and return E. C. to the United States. Enforcement of the order may be uncertain if Ms. Chafin chooses to defy it, but such uncertainty does not typically render cases moot. Pp. 7–10.
(2) Mr. Chafin also seeks, if he prevails, vacatur of the District Court’s expense orders. That too is common relief on appeal, and the mootness inquiry comes down to its effectiveness. In contending that this case is moot due to Mr. Chafin’s failure to pursue an appeal of the expense orders, which were entered as separate judgments, Ms. Chafin again confuses mootness with the merits. Because there is authority for the proposition that failure to appeal such judgments separately does not preclude relief, it is for lower courts at later stages of the litigation to decide whether Mr. Chafin is in fact entitled to the relief he seeks. That relief would not be “ ‘fully satisfactory,’ ” but “even the availability of a ‘partial remedy’ is ‘sufficient to prevent [a] case from being moot,’ ” Calderon v. Moore, 518 U. S. 149 . Pp. 10–11.
(c) Manipulating constitutional doctrine and holding these cases moot is not necessary to achieve the ends of the Convention and ICARA, and may undermine the treaty’s goals and harm the children meant to be protected. If these cases were to become moot upon return, courts would be more likely to grant stays as a matter of course, to prevent the loss of any right to appeal. Such routine stays would conflict with the Convention’s mandate of prompt return. Courts should instead apply traditional factors in considering whether to stay a return order, see, e.g., Nken v. Holder, 556 U. S. 418 , thus ensuring that each case will receive the individualized treatment necessary for appropriate consideration of the child’s best interests. Finally, at both the district and appellate court level, courts should take steps to decide these cases as expeditiously as possible. Pp. 11–14.
The Hague Conference on Private International Law adopted the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction in 1980. T. I. A. S. No. 11670, S. Treaty Doc. No. 99–11. In 1988, the United States ratified the treaty and passed implementing legislation, known as the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (ICARA), 102Stat. 437, 42 U. S. C. §11601 et seq. See generally Abbott v. Abbott, 560 U. S. ___, ___–___ (2010) (slip op., at 4–5).
Article III of the Constitution restricts the power of federal courts to “Cases” and “Controversies.” Accordingly, “[t]o invoke the jurisdiction of a federal court, a litigant must have suffered, or be threatened with, an actual injury traceable to the defendant and likely to be redressed by a favorable judicial decision.” Lewis v. Continental Bank Corp., 494 U. S. 472, 477 (1990) . Federal courts may not “decide questions that cannot affect the rights of litigants in the case before them” or give “opinion[s] advising what the law would be upon a hypothetical state of facts.” Ibid. (quoting North Carolina v. Rice, 404 U. S. 244, 246 (1971) (per curiam); internal quotation marks omitted). The “case-or-controversy requirement subsists through all stages of federal judicial proceedings, trial and appellate.” Lewis, 494 U. S., at 477. “[I]t is not enough that a dispute was very much alive when suit was filed”; the parties must “continue to have a ‘personal stake’ ” in the ultimate disposition of the lawsuit. Id., at 477–478 (quoting Los Angeles v. Lyons, 461 U. S. 95, 101 (1983) ; some internal quotation marks omitted).
There is thus no case or controversy, and a suit becomes moot, “when the issues presented are no longer ‘live’ or the parties lack a legally cognizable interest in the outcome.” Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc., 568 U. S. ___, ___ (2013) (slip op., at 4) (quoting Murphy v. Hunt, 455 U. S. 478, 481 (1982) (per curiam); some internal quotation marks omitted). But a case “becomes moot only when it is impossible for a court to grant any effectual relief whatever to the prevailing party.” Knox v. Service Employees, 567 U. S. ___, ___ (2012) (slip op., at 7) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Church of Scientology of Cal. v. United States, 506 U. S. 9, 12 (1992) (“if an event occurs while a case is pending on appeal that makes it impossible for the court to grant ‘any effectual relief whatever’ to a prevailing party, the appeal must be dismissed” (quoting Mills v. Green, 159 U. S. 651, 653 (1895) )). “As long as the parties have a concrete interest, however small, in the outcome of the litigation, the case is not moot.” Knox, supra, at ___ (slip op., at 7) (internal quotation marks and brackets omitted).
At this point in the ongoing dispute, Mr. Chafin seeks reversal of the District Court determination that E. C.’s habitual residence was Scotland and, if that determination is reversed, an order that E. C. be returned to the United States (or “re-return,” as the parties have put it). In short, Mr. Chafin is asking for typical appellate relief: that the Court of Appeals reverse the District Court and that the District Court undo what it has done. See Arkadelphia Milling Co. v. St. Louis Southwestern R. Co., 249 U. S. 134 –146 (1919); Northwestern Fuel Co. v. Brock, 139 U. S. 216, 219 (1891) (“Jurisdiction to correct what had been wrongfully done must remain with the court so long as the parties and the case are properly before it, either in the first instance or when remanded to it by an appellate tribunal”). The question is whether such relief would be effectual in this case.
Ms. Chafin argues that this case is moot because the District Court lacks the authority to issue a re-return order either under the Convention or pursuant to its in- herent equitable powers. But that argument—which goes to the meaning of the Convention and the legal availability of a certain kind of relief—confuses mootness with the merits. In Powell v. McCormack, 395 U. S. 486 (1969) , this Court held that a claim for backpay saved the case from mootness, even though the defendants argued that the backpay claim had been brought in the wrong court and therefore could not result in relief. As the Court explained, “this argument . . . confuses mootness with whether [the plaintiff] has established a right to recover . . . , a question which it is inappropriate to treat at this stage of the litigation.” Id., at 500. Mr. Chafin’s claim for re-return—under the Convention itself or according to general equitable principles—cannot be dismissed as so implausible that it is insufficient to preserve jurisdiction, see Steel Co. v. Citizens for Better Environment, 523 U. S. 83, 89 (1998) , and his prospects of success are therefore not pertinent to the mootness inquiry.
As to the effectiveness of any relief, Ms. Chafin asserts that even if the habitual residence ruling were reversed and the District Court were to issue a re-return order, that relief would be ineffectual because Scotland would simply ignore it. [ 1 ] But even if Scotland were to ignore a U. S. re-return order, or decline to assist in enforcing it, this case would not be moot. The U. S. courts continue to have personal jurisdiction over Ms. Chafin, may command her to take action even outside the United States, and may back up any such command with sanctions. See Steele v. Bulova Watch Co., 344 U. S. 280, 289 (1952) ; cf. Leman v. Krentler-Arnold Hinge Last Co., 284 U. S. 448 –452 (1932). No law of physics prevents E. C.’s return from Scotland, see Fawcett v. McRoberts, 326 F. 3d 491, 496 (CA4 2003), abrogated on other grounds by Abbott v. Abbott, 560 U. S. ___ (2010), and Ms. Chafin might decide to comply with an order against her and return E. C. to the United States, see, e.g., Larbie v. Larbie, 690 F. 3d 295, 303–304 (CA5 2012) (mother who had taken child to United Kingdom complied with Texas court sanctions order and order to return child to United States for trial), cert. pending, No. 12–304. [ 2 ] After all, the consequence of compliance presumably would not be relinquishment of custody rights, but simply custody proceedings in a different forum.
Enforcement of the order may be uncertain if Ms. Cha- fin chooses to defy it, but such uncertainty does not typically render cases moot. Courts often adjudicate disputes where the practical impact of any decision is not assured. For example, courts issue default judgments against defendants who failed to appear or participate in the proceedings and therefore seem less likely to comply. See Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 55. Similarly, the fact that a defendant is insolvent does not moot a claim for damages. See 13C C. Wright, A. Miller, & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure §3533.3, p. 3 (3d ed. 2008) (cases not moot “even though the defendant does not seem able to pay any portion of the damages claimed”). Courts also decide cases against foreign nations, whose choices to respect final rulings are not guaranteed. See, e.g., Republic of Austria v. Altmann, 541 U. S. 677 (2004) (suit against Austria for return of paintings); Republic of Argentina v. Weltover, Inc., 504 U. S. 607 (1992) (suit against Argentina for repayment of bonds). And we have heard the Government’s appeal from the reversal of a conviction, even though the defendants had been deported, reducing the practical impact of any decision; we concluded that the case was not moot because the defendants might “re-enter this country on their own” and encounter the consequences of our ruling. United States v. Villamonte-Marquez, 462 U. S. 579, 581, n. 2 (1983) .
Mr. Chafin also seeks, if he prevails, vacatur of the District Court’s expense orders. The District Court ordered Mr. Chafin to pay Ms. Chafin over $94,000 in court costs, attorney’s fees, and travel expenses. See Civ. No. 11–1461 (ND Ala., Mar. 7, 2012), pp. 15–16; Civ. No. 11–1461 (ND Ala., June 5, 2012), p. 2. That award was predicated on the District Court’s earlier judgment allowing Ms. Chafin to return with her daughter to Scotland. See Civ. No. 11–1461 (ND Ala., Mar. 7, 2012), pp. 2–3, and n. 2. [ 3 ] Thus, in conjunction with reversal of the judgment, Mr. Chafin desires vacatur of the award. That too is common relief on appeal, see, e.g., Fawcett, supra, at 501, n. 6 (reversing costs and fees award when reversing on the issue of wrongful removal), and the mootness inquiry comes down to its effectiveness.
Such relief would of course not be “ ‘fully satisfactory,’ ” but with respect to the case as whole, “even the availability of a ‘partial remedy’ is ‘sufficient to prevent [a] case from being moot.’ ” Calderon v. Moore, 518 U. S. 149, 150 (1996) (per curiam) (quoting Church of Scientology, 506 U. S., at 13).
If these cases were to become moot upon return, courts would be more likely to grant stays as a matter of course, to prevent the loss of any right to appeal. See, e.g., Garrison v. Hudson, 468 U. S. 1301, 1302 (1984) (Burger, C. J., in chambers) (“When . . . the normal course of appellate review might otherwise cause the case to become moot, issuance of a stay is warranted” (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)); Nicolson v. Pappalardo, Civ. No. 10–1125 (CA1, Feb. 19, 2010) (“Without necessarily finding a clear probability that appellant will prevail, we grant the stay because . . . a risk exists that the case could effectively be mooted by the child’s departure”). In cases in which a stay would not be granted but for the prospect of mootness, a child would lose precious months when she could have been readjusting to life in her country of habitual residence, even though the appeal had little chance of success. Such routine stays due to mootness would be likely but would conflict with the Convention’s mandate of prompt return to a child’s country of habitual residence.
Courts should apply the four traditional stay factors in considering whether to stay a return order: “ ‘(1) whether the stay applicant has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits; (2) whether the applicant will be irreparably injured absent a stay; (3) whether issuance of the stay will substantially injure the other parties interested in the proceeding; and (4) where the public interest lies.’ ” Nken v. Holder, 556 U. S. 418, 434 (2009) (quoting Hilton v. Braunskill, 481 U. S. 770, 776 (1987) ). In every case under the Hague Convention, the well-being of a child is at stake; application of the traditional stay factors ensures that each case will receive the individualized treatment necessary for appropriate consideration of the child’s best interests.
1 Whether Scotland would do so is unclear; Ms. Chafin cited no authority for her assertion in her brief or at oral argument. In a recently issued decision from the Family Division of the High Court of Justiceof England and Wales, a judge of that court rejected the “concept of automatic re-return of a child in response to the overturn of [a] Hague order.” DL v. EL, [2013] EWHC 49, ¶59 (Judgt. of Jan. 17). The judge in that case did not ignore the pertinent re-return order—issued by the District Court in Larbie v. Larbie, 690 F. 3d 295 (CA5 2012), cert. pending, No. 12–304—but did not consider it binding in light of the proceedings in England. Earlier in those proceedings, the Family Division of the High Court directed the parties to provide this Court with a joint statement onthe status of those proceedings. This Court is grateful for thatconsideration.
2 Ms. Chafin suggests that the Scottish court’s ne exeat order prohibits E. C. from leaving Scotland. The ne exeat order, however, only prohibits Mr. Chafin from removing E. C. from Scotland; it does not constrain Ms. Chafin in the same way.
3 The award was predicated on the earlier judgment even though that judgment was vacated. The District Court cited Eleventh Circuit cases for the proposition that if a plaintiff obtains relief before a district court and the case becomes moot on appeal, the plaintiff is still a prevailing party entitled to attorney’s fees. We express no view on that question. The fact remains that the District Court ordered Mr. Chafin to pay attorney’s fees and travel expenses based on its earlier ruling. A reversal, as opposed to vacatur, of the earlier ruling could change the prevailing party calculus and afford Mr. Chafin effective relief.
The driving objective of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Convention) is to facilitate custody adjudications, promptly and exclusively, in the place where the child habitually resides. See Convention, Oct. 25, 1980, T. I. A. S. No. 11670, Arts. 1, 3, S. Treaty Doc. No. 99–11, p. 7 (Treaty Doc.). To that end, the Convention instructs Contracting States to use “the most expeditious procedures available” to secure the return of a child wrongfully removed or retained away from her place of habitual residence. Art. 2, ibid.; see Art. 11, id., at 9 (indicating six weeks as the target time for decision of a return-order petition); Hague Conference on Private International Law, Guide to Good Practice Under the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, Part I–Central Authority Practice, §1.5.1, p. 19 (2010) (Guide to Good Practice) (“Expeditious procedures are essential at all stages of the Convention process.”). While “[the] obligation to process return applications expeditiously . . . extends to appeal procedures,” id., Part IV–Enforcement, §2.2, ¶51, at 13, the Convention does not prescribe modes of, or time frames for, appellate review of first instance decisions. It therefore rests with each Contracting State to ensure that appeals proceed with dispatch.
Upon determining that the daughter of Jeffrey Chafin and Lynne Chafin resided in Scotland, the District Court denied Mr. Chafin’s request for a stay pending appeal, and authorized the child’s immediate departure for Scotland. The Eleventh Circuit, viewing the matter as a fait accompli, dismissed the appeal filed by Mr. Chafin as moot. [ 1 ] As the Court’s opinion explains, the Eleventh Circuit erred in holding that the child’s removal to Scotland rendered further adjudication in the U. S. meaningless. Reversal of the District Court’s return order, I agree, could provide Mr. Chafin with meaningful relief. A determination that the child’s habitual residence was Alabama, not Scotland, would open the way for an order directing Ms. Chafin to “re-return” the child to the United States and for Mr. Chafin to seek a custody adjudication in an Alabama state court. [ 2 ] But that prospect is unsettling. “[S]huttling children back and forth between parents and across international borders may be detrimental to those children,” ante, at 12, whose welfare led the Contracting States to draw up the Convention, see 1980 Conférence de La Haye de droit international privé, Enlèvement d’enfants, E. Pérez-Vera, Explanatory Report, in 3 Actes et Documents de la Quatorzième session, ¶23, p. 431 (1982). And the advent of rival custody proceedings in Scotland and Alabama is just what the Convention aimed to stave off.
This case highlights the need for both speed and certainty in Convention decisionmaking. Most Contracting States permit challenges to first instance return orders. See Guide to Good Practice, Part IV–Enforcement, §2.3, ¶57, at 14. How might appellate review proceed consistent with the Convention’s emphasis on expedition? According to a Federal Judicial Center guide, “[e]xpedited procedures for briefing and handling of [return-order] appeals have become common in most circuits.” J. Garbolino, The 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction: A Guide for Judges 116 (2012). [ 3 ] As an example, the guide describes Charalambous v. Charalambous, 627 F. 3d 462 (CA1 2010) (per curiam), in which the Court of Appeals stayed a return order, expedited the appeal, and issued a final judgment affirming the return order 57 days after its entry. Once appellate review established the finality of the return order, custody could be litigated in the child’s place of habitual residence with no risk of a rival proceeding elsewhere.
But as the Court indicates, stays, even of short duration, should not be granted “as a matter of course,” for they inevitably entail loss of “precious months when [the child] could have been readjusting to life in her country of habitual residence.” Ante, at 12; see Tr. of Oral Arg. 39. See also DL v. EL, [2013] EWHC 49 (Family Div.), ¶38 (Judgt. of Jan. 17) (“[Children] find themselves in a sort of Hague triangle limbo, marooned in a jurisdiction from which their return has been ordered but becalmed by extended uncertainty whether they will in the event go or stay.”). Where no stay is ordered, the risk of a two-front battle over custody will remain real. See supra, at 2–3. See also Larbie v. Larbie, 690 F. 3d 295 (CA5 2012) (vacating return order following appeal in which no stay was sought). [ 4 ]
By rendering a return order effectively final absent leave to appeal, the rules governing Convention proceedings in England and Wales aim for speedy implementation without turning away appellants whose pleas may have merit. And by providing for stays when an appeal is well founded, the system reduces the risk of rival custody proceedings. Congressional action would be necessary if return-order appeals are not to be available in U. S. courts as a matter of right, but legislation requiring leave to appeal would not be entirely novel. See 28 U. S. C. §2253(c) (absent a certificate of appealability from a circuit justice or judge, an appeal may not be taken from the final decision of a district judge in a habeas corpus proceeding or a proceeding under 28 U. S. C. §2255); cf. Guide to Good Practice, Part IV–Enforcement, §2.5, at 16 (suggesting that, to promote expedition, Contracting States might consider a requirement of leave to appeal); id., Part II–Implementing Measures, §6.6, at 37 (measures to promote speed within the appeals process include “limiting the time for appeal from an adverse decision [and] requiring permission for appeal” (footnote omitted)).
Lynne Chafin filed her petition for a return order in May 2011. E. C. was then four years old. E. C. is now six and uncertainty still lingers about the proper forum for adjudication of her parents’ custody dispute. Protraction so marked is hardly consonant with the Convention’s objectives. On remand, the Court rightly instructs, the Court of Appeals should decide the case “as expeditiously as possible,” ante, at 13. For future cases, rulemakers and legislators might pay sustained attention to the means by which the United States can best serve the Convention’s aims: “to secure the prompt return of children wrongfully removed to or retained in” this Nation; and “to ensure that rights of custody . . . under the law of one Contracting State are effectively respected in the other Contracting States.” Art. 1, Treaty Doc., at 7.
1 The Court of Appeals instructed the District Court to vacate the return order, thus leaving the child’s habitual residence undetermined. The Convention envisions an adjudication of habitual residence by the return forum so that the forum abroad may proceed, immediately, to the adjudication of custody. See Convention, Arts. 1, 16, 19, Treaty Doc., at 7, 10, 11. See also DL v. EL, [2013] EWHC 49 (Family Div.), ¶36 (Judgt. of Jan. 17 ) (“[T]he objective of Hague is the child’s prompt return to the country of the child’s habitual residence so that that country’s courts can determine welfare issues.”); Silberman, Interpreting the Hague Abduction Convention: In Search of a Global Jurisprudence, 38 U. C. D. L. Rev. 1049, 1054 (2005) (typing the “return” remedy as “provisional,” because “proceedings on the merits of the custody dispute are contemplated in the State of the child’s habitual residence once the child is returned there”).
2 As the Court observes, ante, at 8, n. 1, a judge of the Family Divi-sion of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales recently concluded that “the concept of automatic re-return of a child in response to the overturn of [a] Hague order pursuant to which [the child] came [to England] is unsupported by law or principle, and would . . . be deeply inimical to [the child’s] best interests.” DL v. EL, [2013] EWHC 49, ¶59(e). If Mr. Chafin were able to secure a reversal of the District Court’s return order, the Scottish court adjudicating the custody dispute might similarly conclude that the child should not be re-returned to Alabama, notwithstanding any U. S. court order to the contrary, and that jurisdiction over her welfare should remain with the Scottish court.
3 For the federal courts, the Advisory Committees on Federal Rules of Civil and Appellate Procedures might consider whether uniform rules for expediting Convention proceedings are in order. Cf. ante, at 14 (noting that “[c]ases in American courts often take over two years from filing to resolution”).
4 The Larbie litigation, known by another name in the English courts, illustrates that the risk of rival custody proceedings, and conflicting judgments, is hardly theoretical. Compare Larbie, 690 F. 3d 295, with DL v. EL, [2013] EWHC 49.
Jeffrey L. Chafin
Lynne H. Chafin
568 U.S. 165