Court Opinion

ID: 9496291
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 16:22:38.807074+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:57:28.777861
License: Public Domain

MELLOY, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur with all of the majority opinion in this case, with the exception of Division III. Division III states that no exceptions to the Hague Convention apply and remands the case for entry of an order returning the children to Israel. I dissent from that portion of the majority opinion for the reason that it does not address Judge Heaney’s argument that one of the Hague Convention defenses as to removal is a finding: “... that the child objects to being returned and has attained an age and degree of maturity at which it is appropriate to take account of its views.” Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, Art. 13, 19 I.L.M. 1501,1502-03 (1980).
In this case, the district court made a finding that Samuel is of sufficient age and maturity to express his views and that he does not wish to be returned to Israel. The majority does not address that finding. I find nothing in the record to indicate that such a finding is clearly erroneous. At a minimum, I agree with the dissent that the case should be remanded for further proceedings to determine the *902views, if any, of both Samuel and Jacob, and for a further determination as to whether each child has attained an age and degree of maturity for which it would be appropriate to take into consideration their views.
Accordingly, I concur in the well-reasoned decision of the majority, with the exception of that portion of the conclusion which failed to remand the case for a further determination as to the views of each child and their level of maturity.