Case Update (2021): Colcester v. Lazaro, ordering enforcement measures to ensure implementation of a return order
On February 26, 2021, in the matter of Colchester v. Lazaro , the U.S. District Court for the W.D. of Washington ordered the parties' 6-year-old child returned to Spain. This child had been the subject of a separate Hague Abduction return petition in 2018. In January 2020, Mr. Colchester secured a sole custody order from the Spanish courts, and in April 2020, Ms. Lazaro again absconded with the child to Washington State, precipitating this action. The Court spent the better part of its 3-page order describing what it deemed to be Ms. Lazaro's "meritless" efforts to "sidestep" court rulings and her repeated "disregard" for those rulings. In elaborating on Ms. Lazaro's behavior, the District Court crafted an order that included quite a few enforcement measures that are worth noting in a blog post. Most specifically, the order included the following language: "The United States Marshals Service shall assist Mr. Colchester or his duly-ap...