Arkansas Department of Human Services v. Cox

This case clashes with the purposes of both the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), Ark. Code Ann. §§ 9-19-101 to -317 (Repl. 2002), and the Parental Kidnapping Protection Act (PKPA), 28 U.S.C. § 1738A, and represents a classic example of how a state should not interpret and apply those Acts. Those Acts were enacted to encourage cooperation between sister states in custody matters. Arkansas’s courts in this case have failed miserably to comply with the intent and letter of the UCCJEA and the PKPA.

The facts leading to this appeal are largely undisputed, and a fair…