Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19, 2006
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
COURT HEARS MOTION TO DISMISS GENOCIDE DENIERS’ CASE
Armenian Assembly Argues As "Friend of the Court"
Washington, DC – In U.S. District Court in Boston yesterday, Assistant
Attorney General William Porter argued for the dismissal of a lawsuit
brought by a Turkish group and others seeking to reinsert genocide
denial materials into the Massachusetts school human rights curriculum
guide. In support of the Attorney General’s position, the Armenian
Assembly filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief, and
argued for the rights of the defendants to recommend teaching the
facts of the Armenian Genocide.
The lawsuit, filed last year by the Assembly of Turkish American
Associations (ATAA), asserts that the Massachusetts Department of
Education’s decision to remove denialist materials in the school
curriculum guide amounts to "censoring" and therefore would be a
violation of the First Amendment. Yesterday in court, Assistant
Attorney General Porter, who represented the Commonwealth, argued
that the First Amendment cannot be applied to statements by the
government and said that the Statute of Limitation requires that the
case be dismissed.
Furthermore, the state pointed out that the plaintiffs have no
standing to sue since there was no harm suffered because students and
teachers may still independently access genocide denial information
from sources not recommended by the state’s curriculum guide.
The ATAA Web site, which the lobbying group seeks to include in a list
of educational sources, is available online although not sanctioned in
the curricular guide. Among the historical distortions on the site is
the statement that it is "….a fact that more than 2 million Turks
and Muslims were massacred by the Armenians…"
"If the plaintiffs succeed with this lawsuit, there will be no stopping
point for the demands anyone can make for the inclusion in curriculum
recommendations, no matter how flawed or outrageous," said Attorney
Arnie Rosenfeld of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP, who
argued the Armenian Assembly’s Amicus together with Board of Trustees
Counselor Van Krikorian.
Rosenfeld and Krikorian warned that if the court accepts the
plaintiffs’ First Amendment claims, it would open the door for any
extremist group, such as Holocaust deniers, to challenge curriculum
matters in court.
Harvey Silverglate, a Boston-based lawyer representing the ATAA,
questioned the veracity of the crimes as the "alleged" Armenian
Genocide in a courtroom full of members of the Armenian community. In
so doing, he joined the ranks of genocide deniers who seek to question
the systematic extermination of the Armenians despite the fact that
there is no credible and scholarly evidence to support such claims.
Also, Attorney General Gabriel Wolohojian of Wilmer, Cutler, Hale
and Dorr LLP, represented an Amicus Class including the Armenian Bar
Association, the Armenian National Committee, the Irish Immigration
Center, the Jewish Alliance for Law and Justice and the NAACP.
Armenian Assembly Board of Trustees President Carolyn Mugar, Vice
President and Counselor Robert A. Kaloosdian, and Executive Committee
Member Anthony Barsamian also attend the proceedings. Additionally,
representatives of the Armenian Bar Association, Armenian National
Committee, International Association of Genocide Scholars, Jewish
Community Relations Council, Irish Immigration Center, NAACP and the
American Jewish Committee, were also on hand.
In 1998, the Massachusetts State Legislature unanimously passed
legislation requiring the Board of Education to formulate
guidelines for a curriculum designed to provide instruction on
several well-documented human rights abuses, including the Armenian
Genocide. In compliance with this requirement, the Department
of Education prepared a draft guide and released it for public
comment. The plaintiffs were afforded opportunities to present their
materials to the Department of Education. Proposed revisions to
the draft were considered, in some cases adopted, and in some cases
rejected. A final guide was then prepared. The ATAA, having failed
to insert their web site replete with historical distortions and
inaccuracies, brought forth the lawsuit in another attempt to cover
up the facts of the Armenian Genocide.
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness
of Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership
organization.
###
NR#2006-082
–Boun dary_(ID_r1yTXJxcuhZm3x7U/XjMaA)–