Court Opinion

ID: 9577596
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:36:23.030862+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:20:52.331798
License: Public Domain

SANDSTROM, Justice,
dissenting.
Because the majority affirms on an erroneous principle of law, I dissent.
The majority says if one parent has perpetrated more domestic violence than the other parent, a presumption against awarding custody attaches to the more violent and is ignored as to the less violent.
“The implication ... that in cases of domestic violence by both parents, the violence of the relationship should be somehow scored like a boxing match with the presumption applying only against the one scoring the most points has no basis in the statute.”
Bruner v. Hager, 534 N.W.2d 825, 829 (N.D.1995) (Sandstrom, J., concurring in the result). Under the majority rationale, if the first parent beats the second parent more violently than the second parent beats the child, the second parent (who beats the child) is presumptively entitled to custody. How does this serve the “best interests of the child,” or are the child’s best interests in fact even considered under the majority view? See Owan v. Owan, 541 N.W.2d 719 (N.D.1996) (Sandstrom, J., dissenting).
I would reverse and remand for a determination of custody based on the best interests of the child, including consideration of domestic violence by both parents.