Hogan v. Hogan, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4387 (E.D. V.A. January 10, 2017)
A U.S. diplomat in Spain filed for divorce and sought to return to the U.S. with her two children, but the father objected to the removal of the children from Spain because they were "thriving in their Spanish community". Disregarding the father's wishes, the mother took the children to the U.S. and resided with them in Virginia. The father then filed a petition under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction seeking the return of the children to Spain. The mother then moved to dismiss, claiming to be entitled to diplomatic immunity in Spain. At oral argument, however, respondent’s counsel conceded that neither respondent, nor her family, presently enjoyed diplomatic immunity -- after all, the mother was no longer in Spain, but had returned to the U.S. Respondent’s motion argued that the petition must be dismissed because the Hague Convention is “inapplicable” to the custody dispute underlying the petition. The court concluded that diplomatic immunity could not protect mother from child custody laws, otherwise any diplomat would lose the ability to recover their own abducted children, making them "second class parents."