John De Light v. Laura De Light, et al.

Automatic Preemptive Rulings and Judicial Overreach Whether a state court violates basic principles of due process by issuing preemptive rulings—such as transferring jurisdiction or resolving key issues—before an appeal has concluded and before the litigant has had a full opportunity to present evidence and argument, thereby denying a meaningful hearing “at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner.” Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306, 314 (1950).

Mooting of Appellate Review Through Automatic Preemptive Transfer Orders Whether an appellate court may issue an automatic preemptive transfer of jurisdiction—triggered by issuance of the remittitur—while key disputed issues such as the case transfer itself, move-away, custody,, and children’s exposure to harmful religious practices are still under appeal, thereby mooting those claims and depriving the appellant of the right to a full and fair appellate review under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Loss of Remand Authority and Foreclosure of Remedies Whether due process is violated where, because of an automatic preemptive jurisdictional transfer to another state, the originating state court loses the authority to remand or enforce any appellate decision—even if the appellant prevails on appeal—thus rendering the appeal an empty formality.

Equal Protection and Discriminatory Fee Enforcement Whether a state court violates the Equal Protection Clause by dismissing a father’s appeal for non­ payment of court fees while allowing the mother to proceed based on a fee waiver obtained through fraud, creating an arbitrary and discriminatory access barrier to appellate justice.

Gender-Based Discrimination in Family Law Proceedings Whether systemic practices in state family courts—such as disparate treatment of mothers and fathers in custody, credibility, and access determinations—violate the Equal Protection Clause when fathers are routinely penalized, dismissed, or denied relief due to implicit gender bias.