R.I. should have kept out of N.C. custody dispute, justices say

Tom Mooney

The Providence Journal

The Rhode Island Supreme Court on Friday overturned rulings by the Family Court that had allowed a divorced woman and her two children to remain in Rhode Island for almost seven years despite an order from a North Carolina judge that they return to that state, where the children’s father lived.

The high court gave Jessica Beauregard 30 days to either comply with the North Carolina ruling of 2002 and return with the children –– now almost 12 and 10 years of age –– or seek to have that order lifted. In concluding the Family Court erred, the high court deplored the case’s being allowed to languish “in a judicial morass for many years,” particularly when the jurisdiction of the Rhode Island Family Court was being challenged.

Source:  http://www.projo.com/news/content/supreme_court_decision_06-20-09_SREPK33_v13.36d5815.html