WE HAVE LOST ONE MAJOR STEP- FALSE ARMENIAN CLAIMS WILL BE THOUGHT IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AMERICAN SUPRIME COURT RULES:
AMERIKAN YUKSEK MAHKEMESI SOZDE SOYKIRIMIN OKULLARDA OKUNMASINA YESIL ISIK YAKDI:
TO SUPPORT TURKISH FORUM’S GLOBAL LOBBY ACTIVITIES PLEASE VISIT
https://www.turkishnews.com/tr/content/bagislar-ve-uye-aidatlari/
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ANCA Welcomes Supreme Court Rejection
Of Massachusetts Genocide Denial Lawsuit
High Court Declines to Consider Turkish Lobby-Sponsored Bid to Force
Genocide Denial into Public Schools
WASHINGTON–A longstanding legal campaign, spearheaded by pro-Turkey
lobbies, to force the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to include historically
inaccurate Armenian Genocide denial materials in their education curriculum
was killed Wednesday by a U.S. Supreme Court decision declining to hear an
appeal to a lower court ruling dismissing the case, reported the Armenian
National Committee (ANCA).
“We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to decline to hear this deeply
flawed and dangerous case, and thus uphold the U.S. Court of Appeals First
Circuit landmark decision rejecting efforts by genocide deniers to abuse the
Document2 1/21/2011
American legal system to bring their hateful agenda to our nation’s public
schools,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “This victory, while
certainly a serious setback to Turkey’s campaign of denial, will, just as
surely, not mark the end of the concerted and well-funded efforts by allies of
Ankara to use our nation’s great freedoms to enforce their own version of
Article 301, silencing discussion of the Armenian Genocide in America’s
classrooms.”
This legal battle started in 2005, when, according to media accounts, the
Assembly of Turkish American Associations solicited the assistance of two
local teachers, a student, and his parents to file the Griswold vs. Driscoll
case against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in an effort to force the
state to include Genocide denial materials in its online education curriculum
guide. In June of 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf dismissed the
case stating that the plaintiffs are “are not entitled to relief in federal court.”
The ATAA and fellow plaintiffs appealed the decision, sending the matter for
review by the First Circuit Court of Appeals. In August, 2010, the First Circuit
Court affirmed Judge Wolf’s dismissal of the case, with the majority opinion
prepared by retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter.
The First Circuit Court decision can be read in the appendix.
Throughout the legal process, the ANCA partnered with the Armenian Bar
Association and groups including the Irish Immigration Society, Jewish
Alliance for Law and Social Action, NAACP, Genocide Education Project and
the Zoryan Institute in preparing amicus briefs in support of the
Massachusetts Commonwealth’s calls to dismiss the case. Attorneys from
Wilmer, Cutler, Hale and Dorr LLP, filed the briefs and championed the case
pro-bono. Other groups that submitted their own amicus briefs included the
International Association of Genocide Scholars and the Armenian Assembly.
This case is seen as part of a larger strategy by Turkish American groups to
use the legal system to harass human rights advocates on issues relating to
the Armenian Genocide. The most recent instance is the lawsuit filed by
representatives of the Turkish Coalition of America against the University of
Minnesota for cautioning visitors to their Holocaust Studies website about
online resources which deny the Armenian Genocide.
The Middle East Studies Association, this week, sent an open letter to the
Turkish Coalition urging them to drop the lawsuit, the full text of which can
be viewed in the appendix
Document2 1/21/2011
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ABD Yüksek Mahkemesi’nden Türk Tezlerine Ret/ Inludes ANCA news/court
ruling/Amicus brief by Armenians
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