John Crouch, Attorney at Thyden Gross and Callahan LLP

05/08/2026

This girl's divorced parents and their new partners got together for a "coparenting photo session."

If you ever want a great example of co-parenting look no further! I always LOVE taking this family's photos. You will never be able to 2nd guess how much this sweet girl is!

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Feel free to tag, share, and use on fb. Do not alter/edit the photos in any way. Do not print from fb as it's low quality. If you use as a profile or cover photo please give ATP credit.

05/01/2026

The text of the “Make DC Square Again” bill just dropped — 8 days after it was introduced. And it is way MORE disruptive to people’s lives and private business than what I described in my video — and way more so than the 1801 Act. While in 1801 Congress left Virginia law and (sort of) courts in place here, the “Square” bill says only: “… the laws of the District of Columbia
shall apply to the territory restored under subsection (b),
and the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia shall cease
to apply to such territory, except that—
(1) all rights, titles, and interests in property
held by any person on such date shall remain undisturbed; and
(2) any civil or criminal proceeding pending in
a court of the Commonwealth of Virginia on such
date arising in such territory may be concluded in
that court as if this Act had not been enacted.”

04/22/2026

In a Hague Convention case, “the habitual residence inquiry is not about what a parent wished for; it is what the child actually experienced.”

A mobile child, having lived in Germany, Italy, Hawai'i, and having spent time in other U.S. states and French Polynesia by age 5 was found to have most continuity in Hawai'i.

04/19/2026

In my experience, the foreign women these guys find do not actually want to remain “traditional.”

04/16/2026

03/22/2026

03/14/2026

Advice I didn’t know you needed: Don’t cc the judge.

From Judge Robert Hinkle's Injunction Not to File Emails yesterday in Elephant Shoe, LLC v. Cook (N.D. Fla.): Some of…

03/12/2026

The House and Senate have passed this resolution honoring Dad, on the initiative of our legislators, Patrick Hope, Adele McClure and Barbara Favola. The rhetoric may be a little overblown. But if people want to tell me he how he "made transformational contributions to the practice of inter-state and international family law," I'm all ears. The Washington Post declared him not obituary-worthy, unlike his mother "Helen Crouch, Secretary' and daughter "Virginia Crouch, Botanist."

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 241

Offered March 5, 2026

Celebrating the life of Richard Edelin Crouch.

—————

Patrons—Hope and McClure; Senator: Favola

—————

WHEREAS, Richard Edelin Crouch, a distinguished attorney in Northern Virginia who made transformational contributions to the practice of inter-state and international family law, died on December 24, 2025; and

WHEREAS, Richard Crouch grew up in Arlington, where he graduated from what is now Washington-Liberty High School, then earned a bachelor's degree and a law degree from The College of William & Mary; and

WHEREAS, Richard Crouch served the nation as an attorney in the United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps, then returned to Arlington and worked as a legal writer and editor for the legal publisher BNA, while also practicing law in Virginia; and

WHEREAS, over the course of his career, Richard Crouch was admitted to try cases before the U.S. Court of Military Appeals, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and the U.S. Supreme Court; and

WHEREAS, Richard Crouch ultimately served in the firm Crouch & Crouch with his son, John, until his retirement in 2018; and

WHEREAS, Richard Crouch cultivated experience in military law, family law, criminal law, legal malpractice and discipline, civil liberties, and other public-interest litigation; in the 1980s, he increasingly focused his practice on family law and became one of the foremost experts on inter-state and international family law; and

WHEREAS, Richard Crouch took an active role in the growth and development of family law in the Commonwealth, contributing to policies on property division, diplomats' pensions, and an ethics code for mediators; he co-chaired the American Bar Association's Child Custody Committee and was active in other peer and professional organizations; and

WHEREAS, from 1991 to 2014, Richard Crouch was the editor of the Virginia State Bar Family Law Section's quarterly, served on its board, and represented it on the Virginia Family Law Coalition, a non-partisan group that reviews, analyzes, and recommends legislation affecting family law in Virginia; and

WHEREAS, in 1997, the Virginia State Bar Family Law Section awarded Richard Crouch the Betty A. Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award; and

WHEREAS, Richard Crouch was a longtime volunteer litigator and board member for the Virginia and Northern Virginia chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union; and

WHEREAS, Richard Crouch also served on the board of directors for Frying Pan Park, the Fairfax Historical Society, and other organizations dedicated to preserving the history of the Commonwealth; in addition to his work on legal publications, he authored two Civil War history books and a tongue-in-cheek exploration of a stereotypical Virginia gentleman; and

WHEREAS, Richard Crouch will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his wife of 60 years, Mary; his son, John, and his family; and numerous other family members, friends, and colleagues; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Richard Edelin Crouch, an esteemed attorney who reshaped the practice of inter-state and international family law through his insights and expertise; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Richard Edelin Crouch as an expression of the General Assembly's respect for his memory.

03/04/2026

DOJ to propose obstacles to state bar complaints against DOJ lawyers. They include possible orders against cooperation with state bar investigations, and DOJ "reviews" of the state investigations, during which they'd ask the state bars to suspend their own investigations.

Review of State Bar Complaints and Allegations Against Department of Justice Attorneys

03/01/2026

Keira's baby daughter, Zammi, was taken away by the Danish authorities two hours after she was born. Now Greenlander Keira's fighting to get her back.

"When they took her, I felt like everything became black. That a part of my soul died. It felt like everything stopped," says Keira.

A video shows the moment Zammi was taken from her by a nurse. You can hear Keira sobbing and whispering sorry to her newborn baby in the background.

Now, there's an empty cot next to Keira's bed. Unworn baby clothes are folded nearby.

"When I go to bed, I always sit at her bed and say, Goodnight, Zammi. It's hard, but it's my way to say, she's with me," says Keira.

Across Greenland, parents like Keira were made to take so-called parenting competency tests, as part of assessments to judge their ability to raise their children.

The tests contributed to hundreds of Greenlandic children being removed from their families.

"They asked a question like, who is Mother Teresa? In some of the tests I had to play with a doll. And they were criticising me for not having eye contact."

The tests were outlawed for use on Greenlanders in May 2025, after evidence showed they are inappropriate for their culture.

Now parents like Keira across Greenland are fighting to get their children back.

"I asked them, why do I have to take these tests?" says Keira. "They said, to see if I could be a part of civilisation or to see if I could act like a human being."

Zammi is the third of Keira's children to be taken away from her against her will. Keira's eldest daughter, Zoe, was forcibly removed when she was nine, but returned by choice at 18.

"When I was taken from my mum, they erased my identity, my Greenlandic language," she says. "I counted every second until I finally turned 18 so I can come home to my mom."

Keira is allowed to see Zammi once a week and Zoe is supporting her fight to get Zammi back.

The Danish government has pledged to review around 300 cases where a child was forcibly removed from their parents.

But Sophie Andersen, Denmark's minister for social affairs, says it's not always possible to return children, especially if they've been adopted by another family.

"For many reasons, I must say that we cannot undo this. We cannot undo adoptions... Those cases are closed because these children are today placed in a loving and caring family," she says.

So far, the government review has not led to a single Greenlandic child being returned to their family.

Keira made her daughter a traditional Greenlandic sleigh for her first birthday, in an effort to keep her culture alive.

But in November, just after Zammi's birthday, Keira was told by the authorities that, at least for now, her daughter will remain in foster care.

"There's no way to win. I was never Danish enough. I was never good enough," she says.

🎧Listen to Keira’s story in Give me my child back, The Documentary https://bbc.in/46notaE