Savoie's case against judge dismissed

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a man who seeks to hold a Williamson County judge and a parental coordinator responsible for his children's abduction.

Christopher Savoie sued Judge James Martin III and parental coordinator Celia Woolverton after his Japanese ex-wife spirited their two children to Japan last year.

Noriko Savoie is Japanese and Christopher Savoie, who lives in Tennessee, has been unable to see his children since the abduction. Divorced fathers in Japan typically don't have much access to their children because of widespread cultural beliefs that small children should be with their mothers.

Last week, Nashville U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger dismissed Savoie's suit, ruling the two defendants were immune from prosecution.