Chaddick v. Monopoli’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 4 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Appellant has had her day in court on her issue of jurisdiction and, perhaps in the Virginia appeal process, is still having it. It is not our function as Florida courts, trial or appellate, to review the decisions of the trial courts of our sister states which decide issues voluntarily submitted to them by citizens of our state. Of course this matter involves a custody dispute properly covered by the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act. The father, who had the children in Virginia by virtue of his summer visitation, filed his action in the Virginia court to change custody. In his petition (among other allegations), he alleged that he was unable to redeliver custody to the mother because she had moved and refused to give him or the police her new address. The mother appeared in these proceedings and therefore personal jurisdiction over her is not an issue. For whatever reason, the trial court gave custody to the father. The record of that proceeding is not before us. It may well be before the Virginia Court of Appeal. What is before us is the mother's admission in her petition: [Chaddick] has cooperated and fully participated in the Court proceedings in Virginia in an attempt to rectify the injustice which has occurred, but all efforts in that jurisdiction have failed.... It appears that petitioner challenged the factual findings that convinced Judge Jannene Shannon of the Virginia Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court to assume jurisdiction. In her Memorandum of ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Chaddick v. Monopoli

2. “(1) A court of this state shall not exercise its jurisdiction under this act if, at the time the petition is filed, a proceeding concerning the custody of the child was pending in a court of another state exercising jurisdiction substantially in conformity with this act, unless the proceeding is stayed by the court of the other state because this state is a more appropriate forum or for other reasons. (2) Before hearing the petition in a custody proceeding, the court shall examine the pleadings and other information supplied by the parties under s. 61.132 and shall consult the child custody registry established under s. 61.1334 concerning the pendency of proceedings with respect to the child in other states. If the court has reason to believe that proceedings may be pending in another state, it shall direct an inquiry to the state court administrator or other appropriate official of the other state. (3) If the court is informed during the course of the proceeding that a proceeding concerning the custody of the child was pending in another state before the court assumed jurisdiction, it shall stay the proceeding and communicate with the court in which the other proceeding is pending, to the end that the issue may be litigated in the more appropriate forum and that information be exchanged in accordance with ss. 61.134-61.1346. If a court of this state has made a custody decree before being informed of a pending proceeding in a court of another state, it shall immediately infor”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Chaddick v. Monopoli

3. “[T]he proper resolution of this case would be to reverse the trial court's order of dismissal and remand for the purpose of developing a sufficient record to demonstrate a basis for the exercise of subject matter jurisdiction by Virginia, or some ground for estopping Chaddick from raising lack of subject matter jurisdiction or binding her by the rulings of the Virginia court. Not to do so rewards an apparent child-snatcher, and gives him the tactical advantage. Why, in the future, should a custodial parent allow a child to go to a different state for visitation, if that means the noncustodial parent can retain the child and empower that other state to modify another state's custody decree, simply because the child has been retained, wrongfully, in the other state? The true basis for the UCCJA's jurisdictional requirements was to prevent and discourage such behavior.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Chaddick v. Monopoli