ICARA – Habitual Residence

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United States Supreme Court

Case Name: Michelle Monasky v. Domenico Taglieri

Case No.: 18-935

Focus: ICARA – Habitual Residence

Petitioner Monasky, a U. S. citizen, asserts that her Italian husband, respondent Taglieri, became abusive after the couple moved to Italy from the United States. Two months after the birth of the couple’s daughter, A. M. T., in Italy, Monasky fled with the infant to Ohio. Taglieri petitioned the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio for A. M. T.’s return to Italy under the Convention, pursuant to 22 U. S. C. §9003(b), on the ground that the child had been wrongfully removed from her country of “habitual residence.” The District Court granted Taglieri’s petition, concluding that the parents’ shared intent was for their daughter to live in Italy. Then two-year-old A. M. T. was returned to Italy. The en banc Sixth Circuit affirmed. Under its precedent, the court first noted, an infant’s habitual residence depends on the parents’ shared intent. It then reviewed the District Court’s habitual-residence determination for clear error and found none. In doing so, the court rejected Monasky’s argument that Italy could not qualify as A. M. T.’s “habitual residence” in the absence of an actual agreement by her parents to raise her there.

A first-instance habitual-residence determination is subject to deferential appellate review for clear error. A trial court’s habitual residence determination presents a mixed question of law and fact that is heavily fact laden. The determination thus presents a task for fact finding courts and should be judged on appeal by a clear-error review standard. See U. S. Bank N. A. v. Village at Lakeridge, LLC, 583 U. S. ___, ___–___. There is no “historical tradition” indicating otherwise. Pierce v. Underwood, 487 U. S. 552, 558. Clear-error review has a particular virtue in Hague Convention cases: By speeding up appeals, it serves the Convention’s emphasis on expedition. Notably, courts of other treaty partners also review first-instance habitual-residence determinations deferentially. Pp. 14–16. Given the circumstances of this case, it is unnecessary to disturb the judgment below and remand the case to give the lower courts an opportunity to apply the governing totality-of-the-circumstances standard in the first instance. Pp. 16–17.

Affirmed

Dissenting:

Concurring: THOMAS, J., and ALITO, J., filed opinions concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.