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APPEALS COURT TOSSES ARMENIAN PAYMENTS LAW
PAUL ELIAS
The Associated Press State & Local Wire
February 24, 2012 Friday 12:04 AM GMT
A federal appeals court on Thursday struck down a novel and
controversial California law that allowed descendants of 1.5 million
Armenians who perished in Turkey nearly a century ago to file claims
against life insurance companies accused of reneging on policies.
The move came when a specially convened 11-judge panel of the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously tossed out a class action lawsuit
filed against Munich Re after two of its subsidiaries refused to
pay claims.
The ruling, written by Judge Susan Graber, Enhanced Coverage
LinkingJudge Susan Graber, -Search using:Biographies Plus NewsNews,
Most Recent 60 Dayssaid the California law trampled on U.S. foreign
policy the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government.
The California Legislature labeled the Armenian deaths as genocide,
a term the Turkish government vehemently argued was wrongly applied
during a time of civil unrest in the country.
The court noted the issue is so fraught with politics that President
Obama studiously avoided using the word genocide during a commemorative
speech in April 2010 noting the Armenian deaths.
The tortured legal saga began in 2000 when the California Legislature
passed a law enabling Armenian heirs to file claims with insurance
companies for policies sold around the turn of the 20th century. It
gave the heirs until 2010 to file lawsuits over unpaid insurance
benefits.
New York Life and the French company AXA paid a combined $37.5 million
to settle lawsuits. But Munich Re chose to fight the litigation,
invoking a rare legal argument known as dormant foreign affairs
pre-emption.
The insurance giant argued the state Legislature had no business
weighing in on the issue, even though the United States had no clear
policy regarding the politically sensitive matter.
The 9th Circuit agreed.
"The existence of this general foreign affairs power implies that,
even when the federal government has taken no action on a particular
foreign policy issue, the state generally is not free to make its
own foreign policy on that subject," Judge Graber wrote for the court.
It was the third time the 9th Circuit ruled on the case.
In 2009, a three-judge panel reversed a lower court's decision and
tossed out the lawsuit. Then in December 2010, the same three-judge
panel did an about-face, changed its ruling and upheld the lower
court's decision to allow the case to go forward.
The ruling Thursday could be the final word on the matter unless the
U.S. Supreme Court agrees to review the unanimous decision by the 11
appellate judges.
From: A. Papazian
PAUL ELIAS
The Associated Press State & Local Wire
February 24, 2012 Friday 12:04 AM GMT
A federal appeals court on Thursday struck down a novel and
controversial California law that allowed descendants of 1.5 million
Armenians who perished in Turkey nearly a century ago to file claims
against life insurance companies accused of reneging on policies.
The move came when a specially convened 11-judge panel of the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously tossed out a class action lawsuit
filed against Munich Re after two of its subsidiaries refused to
pay claims.
The ruling, written by Judge Susan Graber, Enhanced Coverage
LinkingJudge Susan Graber, -Search using:Biographies Plus NewsNews,
Most Recent 60 Dayssaid the California law trampled on U.S. foreign
policy the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government.
The California Legislature labeled the Armenian deaths as genocide,
a term the Turkish government vehemently argued was wrongly applied
during a time of civil unrest in the country.
The court noted the issue is so fraught with politics that President
Obama studiously avoided using the word genocide during a commemorative
speech in April 2010 noting the Armenian deaths.
The tortured legal saga began in 2000 when the California Legislature
passed a law enabling Armenian heirs to file claims with insurance
companies for policies sold around the turn of the 20th century. It
gave the heirs until 2010 to file lawsuits over unpaid insurance
benefits.
New York Life and the French company AXA paid a combined $37.5 million
to settle lawsuits. But Munich Re chose to fight the litigation,
invoking a rare legal argument known as dormant foreign affairs
pre-emption.
The insurance giant argued the state Legislature had no business
weighing in on the issue, even though the United States had no clear
policy regarding the politically sensitive matter.
The 9th Circuit agreed.
"The existence of this general foreign affairs power implies that,
even when the federal government has taken no action on a particular
foreign policy issue, the state generally is not free to make its
own foreign policy on that subject," Judge Graber wrote for the court.
It was the third time the 9th Circuit ruled on the case.
In 2009, a three-judge panel reversed a lower court's decision and
tossed out the lawsuit. Then in December 2010, the same three-judge
panel did an about-face, changed its ruling and upheld the lower
court's decision to allow the case to go forward.
The ruling Thursday could be the final word on the matter unless the
U.S. Supreme Court agrees to review the unanimous decision by the 11
appellate judges.
From: A. Papazian