Al-Silham v. Al-Silham

Lori Al-Silham (plaintiff) married Reda Al-Silham (defendant), who was a citizen of Saudi Arabia and a permanent resident of the United States. Lori and Reda had a child, Layla. Lori filed for divorce in an Ohio trial court. The court became concerned about the possibility that Reda might kidnap Layla because of the following evidence: (1) Reda was a citizen of Saudi Arabia, which did not have a reciprocal extradition treaty with the United States, and there was no process to repatriate a child who was wrongfully removed from the United States to Saudi Arabia; (2) there were dramatic differences between Reda’s Muslim culture and Lori’s Christian culture; (3) Reda was prepared to abscond with Layla to Saudi Arabia because he habitually carried with him a large amount of cash, Layla’s Saudi passport, and a ticket for a flight to Saudi Arabia; and (4) Reda told Lori that if she filed for divorce, she would lose Layla. The court granted the divorce and custody to Lori and parenting time to Reda. Because of factors one through four, the court restricted Reda’s parenting time to take place in the Ohio county where Lori and Layla resided, and his parenting time was to be supervised by Lori or a party of her choosing. Reda appealed, arguing, among other things, that the trial court deprived him of his Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection by restricting his parenting time solely because of his Saudi citizenship.