Setting the record straight. On Aug. 11, Kelly Rutherford filed an emergency writ to the federal court after a Manhattan judge denied her latest custody plea to keep her two children — Hermes, 8, and Helena, 6, — in America.
“The federal court ruled that it was a ‘state court’ matter – not proper for federal court, which is a bit odd given that federal courts have concurrent jurisdiction over Hague Convention matters and this was a Hague Convention case in the state court,” Rutherford’s attorney Wendy Murphy explained to Us Weekly in a statement on the actress’ behalf.
The Hague Convention is an international agreement to protect children in cases of intercountry adoptions and custody. Rutherford’s attorney notes that it states, “when a parent makes an agreement never to establish a child’s residency in a foreign country, especially one where the child has no citizenship, no country can lawfully claim the child as its own resident.”
Rutherford, 46, disagrees with the federal court’s decision, noting that “all matters involving the forced departure of an individual from the United States — whether a citizen or not — are federal matters.”
And as far as citizenship goes, Rutherford also noted that not only are neither of her children citizens of Monaco, where the case with her German businessman ex-husband Daniel Giersch is currently being handled, but neither is either parent. She also cited the 2012 California court case in which Giersch claimed he would “never” take any action in a foreign court.
“So why would Monaco want to restrain the children from living in their own country?” Rutherford’s attorney asked in her statement. “Monaco has no interest in the children, and we will be showing the Monaco judge the father’s agreement ‘never’ claimed that the children ARE residents of Monaco, or should be declared residents of Monaco.”
Rutherford has both reached out to Secretary of State John Kerry for help and has presented a petition with more than 100,000 signatures — including those from celebrity friends including Kim Kardashian to her former costar Ed Westwick — to President Barack Obama.
“Many congressmen and women said they would help, including [Chuck] Schumer, [Kirsten] Gillibrand, [Barbara] Boxer, Chris Smith, and [Sheila] Jackson-Lee,” the statement continued. “Several even agreed to send a letter to the State Department advising them that they should protect Kelly’s children from being forced to leave their own country. But they all did absolutely nothing.”
Rutherford’s final note was one of frustration and shock.
“New York is a ‘Sanctuary City,’ meaning non-criminal illegal aliens cannot be forced to leave,” she said. “How on earth could a judge from the lowest ranking court in the State court system find it proper to grant American citizens less legal protections, in terms of the right to LIVE in the United States, than people who are not citizens and have no right to be here?”
Rutherford’s children have lived in Monaco since 2012. Then in May of this year, Rutherford was granted temporary custody and her children were allowed to spend the summer with her in New York City. She initially refused to return them to her ex-husband in Monaco on the previously agreed upon date of Aug. 7. Rutherford was forced to say goodbye to her two children in court on Aug. 11. The Gossip Girl alum and her ex have been battling for custody since they split in 2008.
