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In Morton v Morton, 982 F. Supp. 675 (D. Nebraska, 1997) the former
wife filed a petition for habeas corpus relief requiring the former
husband to return the child to the custody of the wife in Germany. On
the parties respective motions for summary judgment the District Court
held that court was required to give preclusive and dispositive weight
to decisions of the Utah state court and the German court that required
the child's return to the United States under the provisions of
Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague
Convention). The child now resided in Lincoln, Nebraska, with his father
who had physical and legal custody of the child .
The petitioner claimed that a Utah court, and later a German court,
violated her rights under the Hague Convention when the Utah court
placed custody of the child with the father and when both courts ordered
that the child be returned to him. Petitioner requested that the court
grant habeas corpus relief requiring the father to return the child to
her. The facts were undisputed. The court held that Maria was not
entitled to an order returning the child to her because principles of
"full faith and credit" and "res judicata" required the court to honor
the decisions of the Utah and German courts. Petitioner was free,
however, to return to the United States and seek a change of custody
before the appropriate domestic relations court.
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