Crawley v. Bauchens, 46187
| Citation | 57 Ill.2d 360,312 N.E.2d 236 |
| Decision Date | 29 May 1974 |
| Docket Number | No. 46187,46187 |
| Parties | Carolyn L. CRAWLEY, Appellee, v. Robert N. BAUCHENS, Appellant. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Illinois |
Thomas Carter O'Brien, Chicago, for appellant.
James W. McRoberts, Jr., of McRoberts, Sheppard, McRoberts & Wimmer, P.C., East St. Louis, for appellee.
The circuit court of Madison County enjoined Carolyn Crawley, pursuant to post-divorce petitions filed by her former husband, Robert Bauchens, from causing or permitting the adoption of their child by her present husband, Joseph Crawley. The court also ordered Mrs. Crawley to withdraw her consent to an adoption proceeding then pending in the United States District Court for the District of the Canal Zone. On appeal, the Appellate Court for the Fifth District reversed those portions of the trial court order requiring the withdrawal of consent and prohibiting further action to permit the adoption. (Crawley v. Bauchens (1973), 13 Ill.App.3d 791, 300 N.E.2d 603.) We granted leave to appeal.
The parties were married in Madison County, Illinois, in 1964. A child, Eric, was born in 1967. They separated in 1968 and were divorced in August, 1969, in the circuit court of Madison County. The decree awarded custody of Eric, then 2 years old, to Carolyn. Robert was granted reasonable visitation rights and ordered to pay $25 per week in child support. In March, 1970, Carolyn met a career army officer, Major Joseph B. Crawley. Major Crawley had received orders in January, 1970, transferring him, effective April 5, 1970, to the Canal Zone for a 3-year period. Carolyn began corresponding with Robert, advising him that she was considering remarriage. About June of 1970, Carolyn decided to go to the Panama Canal Zone to marry Major Crawley, and notified Robert of her intentions In response, Robert wrote:
Carolyn's lawyer advised her that in these circumstances it was unnecessary to petition the court for leave to remove Eric from the State. Prior to her departure Carolyn was advised by Robert's lawyer that definite visitation arrangements should be agreed upon since she might remarry and reside in the Canal Zone. No such arrangements were made.
In July, 1970, Carolyn and Eric went to the Canal Zone where she married Major Crawley and where they have resided continuously until a recent transfer of Major Crawley to Guatemala. Between the divorce in August, 1969, and July, 1970, Robert visited Eric three or four times for several days each time. He did not see Eric from July, 1970, to June, 1971, because Carolyn and her son did not return to Illinois during that period nor did Robert visit the Canal Zone, although he had indicated to Carolyn that he might do so. He stopped paying child support shortly after Eric was removed to the Canal Zone, but established an Illinois bank account for Eric with himself as trustee into which he paid some money in lieu of child support.
In March of 1971 Major Crawley and Carolyn began proceedings to adopt Eric. Major Crawley filed a petition for adoption in the United States District Court for the District of the Canal Zone accompanied by Carolyn's consent. Under Canal Zone law the only necessary petitioner in this type of adoption proceeding is Major Crawley, although Mrs. Crawley is required to file a consent. Robert's consent to the adoption is not required since Carolyn is a natural parent with custody. (8 C.Z.C. § 382, 76A Stat. 690.) Robert was, however, served with notice of the adoption proceedings on April 23, 1971. On April 30 Robert filed a petition in Madison County circuit court requesting that Carolyn be held in contempt for removing Eric from the State without leave of court. That petition was set for hearing on July 9. In June Robert appeared by counsel in the Canal Zone proceedings and filed responsive pleadings resisting the adoption on the grounds of Major Crawley's nonresidence. In late June the Crawleys and Eric returned to Illinois and Eric visited with his father. Immediately prior to the hearing on the contempt citation, Robert filed additional pleadings seeking to enjoin Carolyn from proceeding with the adoption, to require her to withdraw her consent to the adoption and to restrain her from removing Eric from Illinois.
At the July 9 hearing the trial court noted that Robert Bauchens was $1,250 in arrears for child support and that Carolyn Crawley had removed Eric to the Canal Zone without leave of court, but that neither of these actions was contemptuous under the circumstances. That court then ordered Robert to pay the overdue child support and to make future payments directly to Carolyn. It also enjoined Carolyn from removing Eric from Illinois until a $2,500 bond was posted conditioned on the further requirements that Eric be returned to Illinois thrice yearly for visitation at her expense, that she withdraw her consent to the adoption and that she do nothing further to cause or permit Eric's adoption. The appellate court affirmed the orders dealing with child support, visitation and the bond, but, as earlier noted, reversed the orders insofar as they required her to withdraw her consent and prohibited her co-operation in the adoption proceedings.
The validity of the child-support, visitation and bond orders is not here questioned. The only issues before us are whether the trial court had the power to order the withdrawal of consent and to enjoin Carolyn Crawley from causing or permitting the adoption, and if so, whether its exercise was appropriate.
The appellate court, in holding that a State court could not interfere with the rights of the parties in the Canal Zone action, relied primarily on Donovan v. City of Dallas, 377 U.S. 408, 84 S.Ct. 1579, 12 L.Ed.2d 409. Donovan involved an effort by a group of Dallas citizens to prevent the construction of an additional airport runway and the selling of municipal bonds for that purpose. They were unsuccessful in the State court and thereafter sought similar relief in the Federal court. The Supreme Court of Texas ordered the Court of Civil Appeals to enjoin the plaintiffs from proceeding in the Federal court, and the plaintiffs were eventually cited and convicted of contempt for persisting in the Federal court litigation. The United States Supreme Court reversed,...
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