Opinion ID: 2561874
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Remaining Injunctive Relief Requests Are Moot.

Text: OCS argues that we should dismiss the Jacobs' claims for injunctive relief as moot. As stated above, issues are moot when the appellant has already received relief. [19] OCS contends that the Jacobs' claims for injunctive relief are moot because they have already received or declined to pursue every item of relief that they requested in the trial court.
The Jacobs' initial complaint sought three forms of injunctive relief on their own behalf: (1) notice of all hearings in CINA proceedings involving their grandchildren; (2) notice and an opportunity to be heard in all permanency hearings involving their grandchildren; and (3) immediate placement of their grandchildren unless OCS could show by clear and convincing evidence that such placement would cause physical or mental injury to the children. [20] Following the superior court's dismissal of their claims, the Jacobs successfully intervened in their grandchildren's CINA cases. The Jacobs and OCS eventually agreed to a visitation plan that includes having the children spend two to three weeks with the Jacobs every summer. OCS agreed to notify the Jacobs within forty-eight hours if the guardianship placement is disrupted and also agreed to consider the Jacobs first for placement, if needed. The guardianships of D.L. and A.K. were approved by the superior court in January 2006 and OCS subsequently released them from custody. Only E.H., the youngest, remains in OCS custody. In her pending case, the Jacobs have intervener status. Thus the Jacobs have in the cases of all three grandchildren received the first two categories of injunctive relief that they sought: notice of CINA proceedings and an opportunity to be heard at permanency hearings. Because the Jacobs have intervener status in E.H.'s case, and because our decision today regarding declaratory relief will leave the Jacobs with an enforceable statement of their rights in any future CINA proceedings, the Jacobs present no live controversy here. With respect to the third form of injunctive relief, placement of the children, this matter has been adjudicated and settled by the superior court handling the CINA cases of the older two children and is currently under review for E.H., the youngest child. As previously noted, the Jacobs decided not to request full custody of the children out of concern for their best interests. With respect to E.H., the superior court handling her CINA case has jurisdiction and the Jacobs can exercise their right to be heard within that proceeding. Finally, the Jacobs effectively concede that the superior court handling the CINA case, and not the superior court in which this separate suit was filed, retains proper jurisdiction over E.H.'s status and custody. [21] The Jacobs argue that the fact that one of the CINA cases is still open makes it hard to conceive of how this lawsuit is moot. But the crux of their suit below was the denial of their opportunity to be heard, which has since been resolved  to the extent that it could be at this late stage  through the Jacobs' actual participation in various hearings and intervener status. The Jacobs' additional request for custody of E.H., if it is even still desired by the Jacobs, is appropriately evaluated through the remaining CINA proceedings. Because we agree with the state that the Jacobs have either been granted or declined to pursue all the injunctive relief that they requested on their own behalf, we hold that the injunctive relief requests they made on their own behalf are moot.
In their briefing the Jacobs argued that they have not received the relief they requested on behalf of similarly situated grandparents. Namely, the court did not issue an injunction compelling OCS to provide similarly situated grandparents with an opportunity to be heard in all relevant CINA proceedings. In oral argument, the Jacobs appeared to retreat from this position to some degree, stating that they were seeking no more relief than necessary for full relief in their own case. Because the Jacobs' requested relief has adequately been addressed, and because the Jacobs did not file a class action suit, we decline to address the Jacobs' request for injunctive relief on behalf of similarly situated grandparents.