Case Update (7 July 2025): Zielinski v. USA; Mother convicted of parental kidnapping petitions U.S. Supreme Court

On February 13, 2025, Ms. Zielinski was convicted under the International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act. Her request for an en banc rehearing was denied by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on April 9, 2025. On July 7, 2025, Ms. Zielinski petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari.

Ms. Zielinski was accused of kidnapping her minor child. At trial, she asserted the affirmative defense that she was “fleeing an incidence or pattern of domestic violence.” She intended to present evidence through the testimony of her son, his preschool teachers, and Child Protective Services to argue that the child’s father had abused the child. The government objected, citing unreliable hearsay. The district court then, sua sponte, barred her from presenting evidence of domestic violence, because the alleged domestic violence was directed at her son, not at her. The court concluded that the IPKCA only provided a defense to fleeing domestic violence when the domestic violence was directed at the fleeing Defendant and not when it was directed at the third party with whom they were fleeing.

In her petition for writ of certiorari, she argues that the court’s “decision badly misreads the statute, produces absurd and unjust results, and conflicts with international treaty commitments.” She argues that other circuits have permitted Defendants to submit evidence of violence directed at the children they are taking overseas, therefore, creating a conflict between circuits. She further argues that the 8th Circuit’s decision, in essence, allows a person to flee with a child, even if the child is in no danger, but not when the child is being abused, which is an absurd result. She finally argues that the 8th Circuit’s decision “creates tension between the International Parental Kidnapping Act and the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Parental Child Abduction - violating Congress’s instruction that the statute should complement, ‘not detract,’ from the Hague Convention.”

On July 16, 2025, the U.S. government filed a waiver to filing a response.