In Re Baby Girl Clausen

In 1980, Congress recognized and addressed a growing problem in the United States and its territories. Child custody and visitation disputes between parents were sometimes becoming kidnapping cases. In a dispute, the child could be removed from one parent and taken out of state. Then the other parent would appeal to the court in the new state for a custody or visitation ruling, thereby circumventing the original court's ruling or jurisdiction.

The Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act of 1980, passed by Congress and signed into law by the president on 28 December 1980, was designed to stop this practice. This legislation established a national standard in custody battles involving more than one state court jurisdiction. The act prohibits one state court from changing a child custody order made by another state. The only exceptions are if the original court clearly no longer has jurisdiction over the matter, or has not accepted jurisdiction in order to change the original decree.