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Michelle Monasky v. Domenico Taglieri

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 16-4128 · judgment October 17, 2018

Decided · February 25, 2020
Pre-decision estimate: 10% cert probability (95% interval 6%–14%)

Before the decision, about 2.3× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a circuit split argued in the petition, a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and a Sixth Circuit decision below.

Questions presented

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction requires that any child wrongfully removed from her country of "habitual residence" be returned to that country. A.M.T. was eight weeks old when she traveled with her mother, Michelle Monasky, from a domestic-violence safe house in Italy to her grandparents' home in Ohio. Monasky's husband, from whom she had fled, filed a petition under the Hague Convention seeking A.M.T.’s return to Italy. The district court found that A.M.T. had not acclimated to living in Italy and made no finding that her parents had ever agreed that she would be raised in Italy. The court nevertheless ruled that the existence of a "matrimonial home" presumptively established Italy as A.M.T.'s habitual residence. In a fractured 10-8 opinion, the en banc Sixth Circuit affirmed after reviewing the district court's determination of habitual residence only for clear error and holding that a "subjective agreement" between the parents to raise A.M.T. in Italy was not necessary to establish that A.M.T. was habitually resident in Italy. The questions presented are:

  1. Whether a district court's determination of habitual residence under the Hague Convention should be reviewed de novo, as seven circuits have held, under a deferential version of de novo review, as the First Circuit has held, or under clear-error review, as the Fourth and Sixth Circuits have held.

  2. Where an infant is too young to acclimate to her surroundings, whether a subjective agreement between the infant's parents is necessary to establish her habitual residence under the Hague Convention.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Amir Cameron Tayrani
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

For respondent
Andrew John Pincus
Mayer Brown LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 3 conferences

Amicus briefs
6 merits
(4 supporting pet./neither, 2 respondent)

Argument & decision

Argued December 11, 2019 — Amir C. Tayrani · Sopan Joshi · Andrew J. Pincus. Audio and transcript

Decided February 25, 2020. Opinion by Ginsburg.

Proceedings

  1. Mar 30 2020
    JUDGMENT ISSUED.
  2. Feb 25 2020
    Adjudged to be AFFIRMED. Ginsburg, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh, JJ., joined, and in which Thomas, J., joined as to Parts I, III, and IV. Thomas, J., and Alito, J., filed opinions concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.
  3. Dec 11 2019
    Argued. For petitioner: Amir C. Tayrani, Washington, D. C. For United States, as amicus curiae: Sopan Joshi, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. For respondent: Andrew J. Pincus, Washington, D. C.
  4. Nov 06 2019
    Reply of petitioner Michelle Monasky filed. (Distributed)
  5. Nov 04 2019
    Motion of the Solicitor General for leave to participate in oral argument as amicus curiae and for divided argument GRANTED.
  6. Oct 25 2019
    CIRCULATED
  7. Oct 23 2019
    Record requested from the U.S.C.A. 6th Circuit.
  8. Oct 23 2019
    The record from the U.S.C..A. 6th Circuit is electronic and filed.
  9. Oct 14 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers filed.
  10. Oct 11 2019
    Motion of the Solicitor General for leave to participate in oral argument as amicus curiae and for divided argument filed.
  11. Oct 11 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of International Academy of Family Lawyers filed.
  12. Oct 07 2019
    Brief of respondent Domenico Taglieri filed.
  13. Sep 13 2019
    SET FOR ARGUMENT on Wednesday, December 11, 2019.
  14. Aug 22 2019
    Brief amici curiae of Sanctuary for Families, et al. filed.
  15. Aug 22 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of United States in support of neither party filed.
  16. Aug 22 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of Frederick K. Cox International Law Center filed.
  17. Aug 21 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of Reunite International Child Abduction Centre in support of neither party filed.
  18. Aug 15 2019
    Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Michelle Monasky.
  19. Aug 15 2019
    Brief of petitioner Michelle Monasky filed.
  20. Aug 15 2019
    Joint appendix filed. (Statement of costs filed).
  21. Jul 09 2019
    Joint motion to extend the time to file the briefs on the merits granted. The time to file the joint appendix and petitioner's brief on the merits is extended to and including August 15, 2019. The time to file respondent's brief on the merits is extended to and including October 7, 2019.
  22. Jul 08 2019
    Joint motion for an extension of time to file the briefs on the merits filed.
  23. Jun 10 2019
    Motion for leave to file amici brief filed by Sanctuary for Families, et al. GRANTED.
  24. Jun 10 2019
    Petition GRANTED.
  25. Jun 03 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/6/2019.
  26. May 28 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/30/2019.
  27. May 07 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/23/2019.
  28. May 07 2019
    Reply of petitioner Michelle Monasky filed. (Distributed)
  29. Apr 19 2019
    Brief of respondent Domenico Taglieri in opposition filed.
  30. Apr 02 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 5, 2019 to April 19, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
  31. Apr 02 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including April 19, 2019.
  32. Mar 13 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including April 5, 2019.
  33. Mar 12 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 21, 2019 to April 5, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
  34. Feb 19 2019
    Motion of Sanctuary for Families, National Network to End Domestic Violence, and Pathways to Safety International for leave to file amicus brief not accepted for filing. (February 21, 2019) (Corrected version submitted)
  35. Feb 19 2019
    Motion for leave to file amici brief filed by Sanctuary for Families, et al.
  36. Feb 11 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from February 19, 2019 to March 21, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
  37. Feb 11 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including March 21, 2019.
  38. Jan 15 2019
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due February 19, 2019)