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U.S. APPEALS COURT REVISITS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LAWSUIT
hetq
10:40, November 8, 2011
(AP) SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court on Monday took up the
thorny issue of whether California law declaring there was an Armenian
genocide in Turkey conflicts with U.S. foreign policy.
At issue is a state law that labels the deaths a genocide, allowing
heirs of Armenians killed in the Turkish Ottoman Empire to pursue a
lawsuit seeking life insurance payments from three German insurers.
It's the third time in two years the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
has confronted the politically charged question. In a rare move,
the court reversed itself last year after a judge changed her mind
and turned a 2-1 ruling rendered in 2009 in favor of insurers into
a 2-1 decision supporting the heirs' lawsuit.
On Monday, the court's chief justice announced in a brief statement
that a majority of judges had voted to rehear the case - a move that
wipes out the 2010 decision.
The insurers, which include Munich Re AG, argue California's law
should be struck down because it conflicts with U.S. foreign policy,
which they say sides with Turkey in refusing to call the Armenian
deaths genocide. Turkey describes the deaths as resulting from civil
unrest that accompanied the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
The insurers point to decisions by former presidents Bill Clinton
and George W. Bush to defeat congressional legislation that would
have recognized an Armenian genocide.
Lawyers for the heirs argue those presidential views are not official
policy. They say the United States lacks a formal position, which
means the California law is not in conflict with any national policy.
Lawyers representing the heirs have filed similar lawsuits against
New York Life Insurance Co. and French insurer AXA, which were settled
in 2005 for a combined $37.5 million.
hetq
10:40, November 8, 2011
(AP) SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court on Monday took up the
thorny issue of whether California law declaring there was an Armenian
genocide in Turkey conflicts with U.S. foreign policy.
At issue is a state law that labels the deaths a genocide, allowing
heirs of Armenians killed in the Turkish Ottoman Empire to pursue a
lawsuit seeking life insurance payments from three German insurers.
It's the third time in two years the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
has confronted the politically charged question. In a rare move,
the court reversed itself last year after a judge changed her mind
and turned a 2-1 ruling rendered in 2009 in favor of insurers into
a 2-1 decision supporting the heirs' lawsuit.
On Monday, the court's chief justice announced in a brief statement
that a majority of judges had voted to rehear the case - a move that
wipes out the 2010 decision.
The insurers, which include Munich Re AG, argue California's law
should be struck down because it conflicts with U.S. foreign policy,
which they say sides with Turkey in refusing to call the Armenian
deaths genocide. Turkey describes the deaths as resulting from civil
unrest that accompanied the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
The insurers point to decisions by former presidents Bill Clinton
and George W. Bush to defeat congressional legislation that would
have recognized an Armenian genocide.
Lawyers for the heirs argue those presidential views are not official
policy. They say the United States lacks a formal position, which
means the California law is not in conflict with any national policy.
Lawyers representing the heirs have filed similar lawsuits against
New York Life Insurance Co. and French insurer AXA, which were settled
in 2005 for a combined $37.5 million.