A downstate appeals panel allowed a divorced mother with physical custody of a 3-year-old to remain in Ohio, overturning a trial court decision the judges deemed “arbitrary.”
A 5th District Appellate Court ruling this week authored by Justice Judy L. Cates granted the mother, Katherine A. Smith, permission to permanently remove her young son from Illinois in a joint custody arrangement with her ex-husband, Chase W. Smith.
The opinion partially overturned a ruling by 3rd Circuit Associate Judge Ben L …