Opinion ID: 406170
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Diversity Jurisdiction And The Domestic Relations Exception

Text: 8 In their briefs on appeal, both counsel devote most of their attention to whether the taking of a child by one parent from another in violation of a custody decree can constitute a tort under District of Columbia law. We address that issue in Part III of this opinion. We must first, however, resolve a problem not addressed by either party: whether the diversity jurisdiction of the federal courts extends to tort suits of this kind. 9 Federal courts long ago carved out a domestic relations exception to the normal exercise of their diversity jurisdiction. See generally 13 C. Wright, A. Miller, & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure § 3609 (1975). Under the domestic relations exception, a federal court will not take jurisdiction over a case if that would require it to grant a divorce, determine alimony or support obligations, or resolve parental conflicts over the custody of their children. See In re Burrus, 136 U.S. 586, 10 S.Ct. 850, 34 L.Ed. 1500 (1890); Barber v. Barber, 62 U.S. (21 How.) 582, 16 L.Ed. 226 (1858); Wasserman v. Wasserman, 671 F.2d 832, 834 (4th Cir. 1982); Sutter v. Pitts, 639 F.2d 842, 843 (1st Cir. 1981). A federal court should not, however, simply avoid all diversity cases having intrafamily aspects. Cole v. Cole, 633 F.2d 1083, 1088 (4th Cir. 1980). As the Fourth Circuit has put it, (s)o long as diversity jurisdiction endures, federal courts cannot shirk the inconvenience of sometimes trading wares from the foul rag-and-bone shop of the heart. Id. at 1089. Suits whose essence is in, for example, tort or contract, and which do not require the federal court to exceed its competence, will be heard. See id.; Crouch v. Crouch, 566 F.2d 486 (5th Cir. 1978); Spindel v. Spindel, 283 F.Supp. 797, 812 (E.D.N.Y.1968) (per Weinfeld, J.). 2 10
11 With respect to plaintiff's cause of action and his claim for monetary damages, we see no bar to the exercise of federal diversity jurisdiction in this case. In a recent decision, the Fourth Circuit recognized the existence of federal diversity jurisdiction in a tort suit arising out of an alleged abduction by one parent of a child in the custody of the other parent. Wasserman v. Wasserman, 671 F.2d 832. We fully support the reasoning of that decision. A federal court is entirely competent, in this case as much as any other, to determine traditional tort issues such as the existence of a legal duty, the breach of that duty, and the damages flowing from that breach. Although the existence of a legal duty in this case may depend in whole or in part on the validity and effect of the various state court decrees in existence at the time of the alleged tort, the task of determining such validity and effect is also not beyond the competence of the federal courts. See id.; Keating v. Keating, 542 F.2d 910 (4th Cir. 1976).
12 The claim for injunctive relief poses a much more difficult issue, however. We note that Wasserman v. Wasserman specifically encompassed only retrospective relief. 671 F.2d at 835. Indeed, the court relied quite strongly on the fact that it was not facing a case in which the parties actually seek a declaration of present or future rights as to custody or visitation. Id. More important, we think there are strong reasons for us to refuse to entertain a request for prospective relief of the sort plaintiff seeks. 13 The decision whether or not to grant injunctive relief in this case would not merely depend on the past rights and wrongs of the parties to the suit. Rather, it would also require an inquiry into the present interests of the minor children Steven and Monique Bennett. See Abdul-Rahman Omar Adra v. Clift, 195 F.Supp. 857, 865-66 (D.Md.1961); cf. Note, A Damages Remedy for Abuses by Child Protection Workers, 90 Yale L. J. 681, 688-94 (1981); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 942 (1979) (interests of third parties must be taken into account in determining injunctive relief in tort). Such an inquiry is within the peculiar province, experience, and competence of the state courts. 3 For a federal court to try its hand at the task, even during the course of a tort suit, would-in the absence of an overriding federal interest 4 -seriously compromise the principles underlying the domestic relations exception. See Kilduff v. Kilduff, 473 F.Supp. 873 (S.D.N.Y.1979); cf. Sutter v. Pitts, supra; Hernstadt v. Hernstadt, 373 F.2d 316, 318 (2d Cir. 1967). 5 Moreover, we are faced in this case with the fact that at least one, and possibly two, state courts seem to claim continuing jurisdiction over the custody of Steven and Monique. 14 Plaintiff stated in his brief supporting his motion for expedited reconsideration before the district court that (o)nly a federal court's process can be effective in this matter, if, as counsel for plaintiff believes (,) the Ohio (state) Court would not enforce the District (of Columbia custody) decree.... We sympathize with this concern. The mischief and human suffering that arise out of the failure of interstate cooperation in matters of child custody are well known. See generally Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act of 1979, Joint Hearings on S.105 Before the Subcomm. on Criminal Justice of the Senate Comm. on the Judiciary and Subcomm. on Child and Human Development of the Comm. on Labor and Human Resources, 96th Cong., 2d Sess. (1980); Foster & Freed, Child Snatching and Custodial Fights, 28 Hast.L.J. 1011 (1977). But there are better ways of resolving that dilemma than by giving the federal courts the power to determine the custody of children. For example, many states have adopted the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act. Even more important, the Congress recently passed the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act of 1980, Pub.L.No.96-611, §§ 6-10, 94 Stat. 3568 (1980) (codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1073 note, 28 U.S.C. § 1738A, and scattered sections of 42 U.S.C.). The three main provisions of that Act (1) significantly strengthen the obligation of states to enforce each other's custody decrees under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, (2) make available to the states the services of a federal Parent Locator Service, and (3) clarify the intent of Congress with respect to the federal role in the criminal prosecution of parents who kidnap their children and transport them across state lines. We note that conspicuously absent from this comprehensive enactment is any provision creating or recognizing a direct role for the federal courts in determining child custody. Indeed, the legislative history of the Act makes clear that Congress deliberately and emphatically omitted such a role. 6 In the instant case, we note that plaintiff has litigation going forward in the District of Columbia court system and that remedies available in that forum have not been exhausted. 15 In light of the above, we hold that the district court does not have jurisdiction to give injunctive relief in this case.