Opinion ID: 496809
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Susan Alford

Text: 22 Rykers brought state law claims against Susan Alford for deprivation of parental rights, the seven-year search for Aimee, and malicious prosecution. The district court dismissed these claims, citing the domestic relations exception to federal jurisdiction. 2 Under this exception, the federal courts have traditionally refused to take cases involving marital status or child custody. The courts have reasoned that (1) the state courts have greater expertise and interest in domestic matters; (2) such disputes often require ongoing supervision, a task for which the federal courts are not suited; (3) piecemeal adjudication of such disputes increases the chance of different court systems handing down incompatible decrees; and (4) such cases serve no particular federal interest, while crowding the federal court docket. See, e.g., Jagiella v. Jagiella, 647 F.2d 561 (5th Cir.1981); 13 C. Wright, A. Miller, & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure Sec. 3609 (1984). 23 However, the courts have declared that the domestic relations exception is to be interpreted narrowly and that a case should not be dismissed merely because the parties are from the same family and a domestic dispute forms part of the context of the litigation. McIntyre v. McIntyre, 771 F.2d 1316, 1319 (9th Cir.1985); Franks v. Smith, 717 F.2d 183, 185 (5th Cir.1983); Bennett v. Bennett, 682 F.2d 1039, 1042 (D.C.Cir.1982); Cole v. Cole, 633 F.2d 1083, 1088 (4th Cir.1980). The decisive factor is not the formal label attached to the claim (tort, contract, etc.), but the type of determination that the federal court must make in order to resolve the case. If the federal court must determine which parent should receive custody, what rights the noncustodial parent should have, how much child support should be paid and under what conditions, or whether a previous court's determination on these matters should be modified, then the court should dismiss the case. On the other hand, if the court need only decide whether an already-set custody or child support award has been complied with, or whether the parties have committed acts that would be actionable even if everyone involved was unrelated, then the federal courts should retain the case. 24 For example, this Circuit and other circuits have approved of dismissal of a claim for modification of a state child custody decree. (Goins v. Goins, 777 F.2d 1059 (5th Cir.1985); Jagiella, 647 F.2d at 565); or for alienation of a child's affections (Jagiella, 647 F.2d at 565). The courts have also refused an injunction setting future custody and visitation rights (Bennett, 682 F.2d at 1042-43). The courts have disapproved of dismissal of a fourth amendment claim alleging that one parent induced a sheriff to search the other parent's house (Franks, 717 F.2d at 185-86). Parents have been allowed to sue in federal court for overdue past child support payments (Jagiella, 647 F.2d at 564); and for past violations of an established custody or visitation order (McIntyre, 771 F.2d at 1319); Hooks v. Hooks, 771 F.2d 935, 942 (6th Cir.1985); Lloyd v. Loeffler, 694 F.2d 489, 491 (7th Cir.1982); Bennett, 682 F.2d at 1042). This Court has allowed a wife to sue her former husband in federal court for a fixed sum past due under a divorce decree. Erspan v. Badgett, 647 F.2d 550, 553 n. 1 (5th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 945, 102 S.Ct. 1443, 71 L.Ed.2d 658 (1982). One spouse has been allowed to sue another for arson, conversion, and malicious prosecution involving crimes unrelated to the marriage. Cole, 633 F.2d at 1088-89. 25 In the instant case, Rykers' claims, while framed in terms of tort, cannot be resolved without determining Rykers' and Alford's respective rights to custody of Aimee. If Alford had the right to remove Aimee from Australia without informing Rykers of their whereabouts, then Alford would probably not be liable for deprivation of parental rights or the costs of Rykers' seven-year search. Our analysis of Rykers' claim against Officer Fuqua reveals that the claim of malicious prosecution also requires determination of the extent of Rykers' and Alford's custody rights as of May 1984, as well as the extent to which Louisiana would recognize any rights granted by Australian law. Moreover, a Louisiana court has since awarded custody to Alford. In determining present custody rights to Aimee, the Louisiana court may have made some predicate determinations concerning past rights that could have conflicted with determinations the federal district court would have been forced to make. In short, all of the policy considerations mandating domestic relations dismissal were present in the instant case.