On March 5, 2014, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Lozano v. Alvarez. The question at issue was whether a federal district court considering a petition under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, for the return of an abducted child, may equitably toll the running of the one-year filing period when the abducting parent has concealed the whereabouts of the child from the left-behind parent.

In a 9-0 opinion delivered by Justice Thomas, the Court held that the one-year period may not be equitably tolled, even if the abducting parent has concealed the child's whereabouts until after the one-year period has passed. Justice Alito filed a concurring opinion, in which Justices Breyer and Sotomayor joined. The opinion of the Second Circuit was affirmed.

To discuss the case, we have Margaret Ryznar, who is an Associate Professor of Law and Dean's Fellow at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

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