I. M. v. Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, et al.

This case involves a jurisdictional statute that Maryland and 48 other states adopted from the Uniform Child Custody and Jurisdiction Enforcement Act (“UCCJEA”). For the purpose of discouraging forum shopping by parents in custody disputes, the UCCJEA authorizes the child’s “home state” to make custody determinations without the necessity of a parent’s physical presence in or minimum contacts with the forum. A custody determination under the UCCJEA includes termination of parental rights. Here, the court terminated Petitioner’s parental rights without testing its assertion of jurisdiction against the Due Process Clause “minimum contacts” standard. Petitioner I.M. (“Father”) is a resident of Cameroon with no Maryland contacts. The mother J.N.T. (“Mother”), is a legal permanent resident who gave birth to their minor child (“J.T.”) in Maryland in 2016. The Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (“Department”) removed J.T. shortly after she was born and subsequently petitioned to terminate parental rights. The court below did not find Father unfit. Therefore, this case presents the following question: Whether the UCCJEA comports with the Due Process Clause, where it subjects an international parent to termination of parental rights, where the parent is not deemed unfit, and where the parent has no contact, ties, or relations with the forum state?