Court Upholds Denial of Woman’s Passport
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A federal appeals court ruled Friday that a woman who is nearly $30,000 behind in child support payments can be denied a passport.
Eudene Eunique, a lawyer in the desert town of Lucerne Valley, had argued that international travel was her constitutional right, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed.
It upheld a federal law allowing the government to withhold passports from anyone more than $5,000 in debt to their child’s other parent.
The court ruled 2 to 1 that Eunique should not be given a passport that would let her visit family in Mexico and establish potential business contacts with a Peruvian law firm. That money instead should be spent on her children, the court ruled.
The justices also noted that, if granted a passport, Eunique could simply leave the country and skip out on her debts.
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