Ohno v. Yasuma, No. 11-55081 (9th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff sued defendant and the Church in Japan, alleging that they had tortiously induced her to transfer nearly all of her assets to the Church. After the Japanese courts awarded plaintiff a tort judgment, the Church contended that the judgment imposed liability for its religious teachings in violation of its constitutional right to free exercise of religion. The court affirmed the district court's judgment in favor of plaintiff, holding that the district court's recognition and enforcement of the judgment did not constitute "state action" triggering direct constitutional scrutiny. The court also held that neither the Japanese judgment nor the cause of action on which it was based rose to the level of repugnance to the public policy of California or of the United States that would justify a refusal to enforce the judgment under California's Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act, Cal. Civ. Proc. Code 1713-1724.
Court Description: Diversity/California’s Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act The panel affirmed the district court’s judgment in favor of plaintiff awarding her, pursuant to California’s Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act, Cal. Civ. Proc. Code §§ 1713–1724, monetary relief ordered by the courts of Japan. Plaintiff sued Yuko Yasuma and the Saints of Glory Church (collectively, “the Church”) in Japan, alleging that they had tortiously induced her to transfer nearly all of her assets to the Church. The Japanese courts awarded plaintiff a $1.2 million tort judgment. Plaintiff sought enforcement of the judgment in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The Church asserted that the district court was both constitutionally and statutorily required to refuse recognition of the Japanese judgment because (1) the judgment burdened free exercise of religion in violation of the Religion Clauses; and (2) the judgment was not entitled to recognition or enforcement under the Uniform Act, because it was “repugnant to the public policy” embodied in the Religion Clauses. The panel held: first, the district court’s enforcement of this foreign-country money judgment did not constitute domestic state action triggering constitutional scrutiny; and, second, neither the judgment at issue in this particular case nor the cause of action on which it was based was so repugnant to public policy as to qualify for non-enforcement under the Uniform Act.
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