Source: http://openjurist.org/442/f3d/196/cantor-v-cohen
Timestamp: 2015-09-01 04:15:36
Document Index: 12755191

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 11601', '§ 11601', '§ 11603', '§ 11601', '§ 11601', '§ 11601', '§ 11601', '§ 11601', '§ 11601', '§ 11601', '§ 11603', '§ 11601', '§ 11601']

442 F3d 196 Cantor v. Cohen | OpenJurist
442 F. 3d 196 - Cantor v. Cohen Home
442 F3d 196 Cantor v. Cohen 442 F.3d 196
Sarah Claudia Aragon CANTOR, Petitioner-Appellant,v.Andrew COHEN, Respondent-Appellee.
No. 05-1609.
This appeal presents the question of whether the International Child Abduction Remedies Act ("ICARA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 11601-11610, confers jurisdiction upon federal courts to hear access claims.1 Petitioner-Appellant, Sarah Claudia Aragon Cantor, appeals the district court's order of April 18, 2005, dismissing her access claims. On May 23, 2005, the district court granted Ms. Cantor's motion for final judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b) on the access claims and for clarification of ruling on the alternative access claim for one of her children referred to herein as A.C. Specifically, when dismissing the access claims, the district court held that it did not have jurisdiction to hear access claims under ICARA. For the following reasons, we affirm the decision of the district court.
The district court's Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b) certification is subject to an abuse of discretion standard. See Curtiss-Wright Corp. v. General Elec. Co., 446 U.S. 1, 10, 100 S.Ct. 1460, 64 L.Ed.2d 1 (1980); see also Braswell Shipyards, Inc. v. Beazer East, Inc., 2 F.3d 1331, 1339 (4th Cir.1993) (Luttig, J. dissenting) ("[w]e may disturb a trial court's decision to enter judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b) `only if [we] can say that its conclusion was clearly unreasonable.'") (quoting Curtiss-Wright, 446 U.S. at 10, 100 S.Ct. 1460). We find the district court's decision to enter judgment under Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b) in this case was reasonable and not an abuse of discretion. Accordingly, we possess jurisdiction and will review the Appellant's claims on the merits.
To resolve the issue presented in this appeal we find that we must begin by looking at the implementing language in ICARA, 42 U.S.C. § 11601, et seq. We believe the analysis does not begin at 42 U.S.C. § 11603, as suggested by the Appellant, but instead at 42 U.S.C. § 11601. In the initial findings under § 11601(a) particular emphasis is drawn to Congressional concern regarding international abduction or wrongful retention of children. Notably, this section does not mention visitation rights or access rights until the last subsection, subsection 4, and then only mentions these rights in the context of the Convention. Specifically, the subsection describes that "[t]he Convention . . . establishes legal rights and procedures for the prompt return of the children who have been wrongfully removed or retained, as well as for securing the exercise of visitation rights." 42 U.S.C. § 11601(a)(4) (emphasis added).
Furthermore, subsection (b)(1) of § 11601, which is part of Congress' declarations, states that "[i]t is the purpose of this chapter to establish procedures for the implementation of the Convention in the United States." 42 U.S.C. § 11601(b)(1) (emphasis added). More importantly, subsection (b)(4) of § 11601, which is also part of Congress' declarations, states that:
42 U.S.C. § 11601(b)(4) (emphasis added).
As additional support of her argument that 42 U.S.C. § 11603(b) confers federal courts jurisdiction to hear access claims, the Appellant cites to 42 U.S.C. § 11601(b)(2) which states that "[t]he provisions of this chapter are in addition to and not in lieu of the provisions of the Convention." However, as discussed above, our interpretation of section 11603(b) of ICARA is consistent with the provisions of the Convention.6 We also refer once more to 42 U.S.C. § 11601(b)(4) which states that "[t]he Convention and this chapter empower courts in the United States to determine only rights under the Convention . . . ."
Few federal courts have had the occasion to examine the question presented in this case. Indeed, the district court's decision in this case is consistent with the reported decisions of five district courts that have so interpreted the federal courts lacking jurisdiction to resolve access claims. See In re Application of Adams ex. rel. Naik v. Naik, 363 F.Supp.2d 1025, 1030 (N.D.Ill.2005); Wiggill v. Janicki, 262 F.Supp.2d 687, 689 (S.D.W.Va.2003); Neng Nhia Yi Ly v. Heu,