Naoko Ohno v. Yuko Yasuma

Our case involves novel issues concerning the enforcement of foreign-country money judgments that assertedly implicate the defendant’s freedom of religion. Naoko Ohno 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 Ohno a $1.2 million tort judgment.

The Church contends that the judgment imposes liability for its religious teachings, in violation of its constitutional right to free exercise of religion. The Church makes two principal arguments on appeal: (1) that the district court’s recognition and enforcement of the Japanese judgment is unconstitutional as a direct violation, by the court, of the Free Exercise Clause in the U.S. Constitution and the parallel provisions of the California Constitution, U.S. Const, amend. I; Cal. Const, art. I, § 4; and (2) that the Japanese judgment is not entitled to recognition or enforcement under California’s Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act, Cal. Civ.Proc.Code §§ 1713-1724 (“Uniform Act”), because it is “repugnant to the public policy” embodied in…