Court Upholds Denial of Woman’s Passport
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.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
