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Case Summaries

Family Law

[06/24] Doe v. Reed
In a First Amendment case arising out of a state law extending certain benefits to same-sex couples, involving a challenge to the Washington Public Records Act based on its provision permitting the disclosure of referendum petition signers' names and addresses, the Ninth Circuit's reversal of the district court's preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiffs is affirmed where disclosure of referendum petitions does not as a general matter violate the First Amendment.

[06/23] In re Marriage of Hartman
Trial court's denial of wife's motion to vacate an order restraining her from interfering with ex-husband's child custody time is affirmed as the restraining order is neither ambiguous nor overbroad.

[06/22] In re Kyle E.
In juvenile dependency proceedings, the juvenile court's visitation order is reversed and remanded as it unlawfully delegated the responsibility of whether or not the father's visitation would occur at all to the Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services.

[06/18] Elliot v. Carcieri
In a class action lawsuit on behalf of foster care children who are under the legal custody of Rhode Island's Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), claiming that systematic deficiencies in the state's child welfare and foster care systems deprived the plaintiffs of their rights under the U.S. Constitution and several federal statutes, district court's judgment dismissing the complaint on the ground that the Next Friends lacked capacity to sue on behalf of plaintiffs is reversed where: 1) the district court erred in finding that the state appointed guardians ad litem or CASA advocates precluded plaintiffs from filing suit by a Next Friend; 2) under the circumstances of the case, Rule 17(c) allows federal courts discretion to appoint a Next Friend to represent the children in federal court; and 3) the proposed Next Friends are suited to represent the children in this case.

[06/17] Estate of Charania v. Shulman
In a tax deficiency case, the judgment of the tax court is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) the tax court's judgment that all of the Citigroup shares were the separate property of the decedent for federal estate tax purposes and, thus, were includable in his gross taxable estate is affirmed, as the rule of De Nicols is that a change in marital domicile does not, in itself, effect a change in the marital property regime governing the spouses' rights in personal property acquired throughout the course of the marriage; but 2) the tax court's approbation of the late-filing penalty was in error and is therefore reversed.

[06/15] In re D.R.
In the County Social Services Agency's appeal from a juvenile court's order denying the agency's motion to terminate the de facto parent status of respondent, and granting the application of respondent's partner for de facto parent status, the order is affirmed where: 1) the juvenile court had the authority to determine that respondent's conduct constituted serious physical abuse, but conclude that the single incident of misconduct found to have occurred did not rise to the level warranting termination of his de facto parent status; and 2) the juvenile court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to terminate respondent's de facto parent status.

[06/15] US v. Novak
A conviction under 18 U.S.C. section 228(a)(3) for willfully failing to pay child support is affirmed over two challenges to the district court's jury instructions on venue where: 1) the district court did not err when it defined "resided" as "the act or fact of living in a given place permanently or for an extended period of time," and the evidence was sufficient, for purposes of venue, to establish that defendant resided in the Eastern District of Virginia during the time period alleged in the indictment; and 2) even assuming the district court's instruction was erroneous, defendant could not show any harm.

[06/10] Fields v. Fields
In a divorce action, the appellate division's order affirming the trial court's equitable distribution order is affirmed where the husband's one-half interest in the parties' residence -- a Manhattan townhouse that the husband purchased during the marriage and where the parties had lived for nearly thirty years -- was marital property.

[06/10] G.R. v. Intelligator
In an attorney's special motion to strike plaintiff's complaint, arising from her representation of plaintiff's ex-wife in postmarital dissolution proceedings, trial court's judgment is affirmed where: 1) attorney's filing a copy of plaintiff's credit report in support of a motion was protected petitioning activity; 2) plaintiff failed to meet his burden of demonstrating probability of success on his claims; and 3) plaintiff failed to show either that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding the attorney fees and costs or that it erred in denying his motion for reconsideration.

[06/09] In re Marriage of Jill & Victor D.
Juvenile court's judgment terminating a father's parental rights so the minors could be adopted by their stepfather is affirmed where: 1) the court properly held that the circumstances by which the minors' mother initially assumed sole physical custody of them was irrelevant to the determination whether the father left the minors within the meaning of the statutory scheme; and 2) the father's claim that there was insufficient evidence to support the juvenile court's finding that he left the minors for one year with the intent to abandon them during that time is rejected.

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Judgment Enforcement

[06/24] Olmstead v. Fed. Trade Comm'n
An order to partially satisfy a judgment against defendant in the FTC's suit for unfair or deceptive trade practices is affirmed as Florida law permits a court to order a judgment debtor to surrender all right, title, and interest in the debtor's single-member limited liability company to satisfy an outstanding judgment.

[06/23] In re McKinney
An appeal by a tax debt owner in Chapter 13 proceedings, arising from the bankruptcy court's denial of its objections to the debtor's proposed plan to pay off the tax debt with interest within five years, is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction as, although the issue that the tax debt owner cares about may have been resolved, its basic dispute with the bankruptcy estate has not been resolved and therefore the judgment of the bankruptcy court is not final.

[06/22] Export-Import Bank of the U.S. v. Asia Pulp & Paper Co.
In an action to collect a $144 million judgment against defendants pursuant to the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act (FDCPA), the district court's order quashing plaintiff's writs of garnishment is affirmed where an electronic funds transfer (EFT) temporarily in the possession of an intermediary bank in New York may not be garnished under the FDCPA to satisfy judgment debts owed by the originator or intended beneficiary of that EFT.

[06/15] Weinstein v. Islamic Repub. of Iran
In proceedings involving efforts to collect on a default judgment against Iran and in favor of the family of an individual severely injured in a 1996 suicide bombing in Jerusalem, an order granting plaintiff's motion for appointment of receiver to attach defendant's property in satisfaction of the prior judgment is affirmed where: 1) section 201(a) of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act provided courts with subject matter jurisdiction over post-judgment execution and attachment proceedings against property held in the hands of an instrumentality of the judgment-debtor, even if the instrumentality was not itself named in the judgment; 2) Congress, by virtue of providing subject matter jurisdiction over execution and attachment proceedings based in part on the Office of Foreign Asset Control's determination of what assets were blocked, did not unconstitutionally delegate its authority to the Executive Branch; and 3) there was no conflict between the TRIA and the Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights.

[06/08] John Galliano, S.A. v. Stallion, Inc.
In an action seeking to register in New York a judgment entered by a court in Paris, France in favor of plaintiff, the appellate division's order recognizing the judgment is affirmed where the enforcement of the French judgment was not repugnant to the court's notion of fairness because defendant was well aware of its ongoing disputes with plaintiff, and it was also aware that, under the licensing agreement, those disputes, if litigated, would be adjudicated in accordance with French law by a court in France.

[06/02] Mabry v. Superior Court
In homeowners' petition for a writ of mandate challenging an order of the trial court, allowing for foreclosure to proceed on their home, is granted in part and remanded to the trial court to determine whether or not the lender complied with Civil Code section 2923.5. To the extent that the trial court's order precludes the assertion of any class action claims, the petition is denied.

[06/01] Miccosukee Tribe of Indians v. Kraus-Anderson Constr. Co.
In an action by an Indian tribe seeking to enforce a judgment in a breach of contract action against defendant, summary judgment for defendant is reversed where the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because: 1) federal common law did not create jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. section 1331; and 2) the case was not a challenge regarding the reach of Indian power and subject matter jurisdiction did not exist on that basis.

[05/28] Lucky United Properties Inv., Inc. v. Lee
Trial court's grant of defendants' motion to compel plaintiff's attorney to acknowledge the satisfaction of a prior order for attorney's fees and costs and denying in part the attorney's motion for other attorney's fees and costs incurred in connection with his successful motion to strike, arising from an underlying suit involving a contract dispute over purchase of real property, is reversed where: 1) trial court erred in denying the attorney's request for attorney fees as the judgment was not fully satisfied by the time the attorney brought his motion for attorney fees incurred in connection with the abstract of judgment and lien notices; 2) the trial court erred in denying the attorney's memorandum of costs; and 3) the trial court erred in granting defendant's motion for satisfaction of judgment under section 724.050.

[05/25] 612 S. LLC, v. Laconic Ltd P'ship
In a bondholder's suit seeking a judgment ordering the foreclosure and sale of property subject to a water district bond issued under the provisions of the Improvement Act of 1911 and the Municipal Improvement Act of 1913, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded where: 1) trial court properly rejected the property owner's claim that it was a bona fide purchaser because the record reveals that it had constructive notice of the Bond and assessment lien; 2) trial court's judgment holding the property owner personally liable for any deficiency after the foreclosure sale of the property is reversed; and 3) the trial court abused its discretion in deciding attorney fees and costs without consideration of all the evidence.

[05/17] Tarlesson v. Broadway Foreclosure Inv., LLC
In a judgment creditor's action seeking to satisfy a judgment through the sale of judgment debtor's home, trial court's order permitting the sale subject to a $150,000 homestead exemption in debtor's favor is affirmed as the trial court correctly determined that the debtor was eligible to claim the exemption because the home was her principal residence prior to attachment of the creditor's judgment lien and continuously thereafter.

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