The Maryland Court of Appeals issued an interesting decision in a child custody case that involved a conflict of laws with Japanese family courts. In Toland v. Futagi, the Court upheld the Japanese decision to award custody of the minor to her maternal grandmother, a Japanese national. The child grew up in Japan and spent her whole life there. When her mother died, the grandmother took custody. The Maryland Court found that this decision did not infringe on the due process rights of the American father, and that the lower court properly declined to exercise jurisdiction over the child, who had no connection to the state.
Finally, the 7th Circuit issued an opinion involving access to nuclear power plants. In Exelon Generation Co. v. Local 15, Int’l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, the court upheld the rights of union employees at privately-owned nuclear power plants to labor arbitration for denial of security clearance. At issue was whether post-9/11 security requirements had removed the denial of “unescorted access” privileges from arbitral review.
Have a great weekend, everyone.