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JUDGE NOMINEE GETS UNFAIR RAP IN ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DISPUTE
Boston Globe, MA
Nov 26 2013
November 26, 2013
The Governor's Council is poised to make a profound error by
rejecting a Massachusetts Superior Court nominee based, in part, on
his volunteer activities with the Anti-Defamation League, a national
organization committed to combating anti-Semitism and other forms of
discrimination. Whether through bad faith or a lack of familiarity with
the facts, a majority of the eight-member board appears to believe
that Joseph Berman, a well-regarded trial and appellate lawyer,
didn't stand up for justice during the 2007-08 clash between the
league's national leadership and the Armenian-American community.
Back then, national president Abraham Foxman tarnished the organization
when he failed to acknowledge unambiguously that Ottoman Turks
committed genocide against Armenians during and after World War I. The
ADL's New England branch rebelled, to its credit. Former regional
director Andrew Tarsy was fired by the national office for refusing to
toe the official line. Two local board members, including Boston City
Councilor Michael Ross, resigned. Other local board members, including
Berman, took the fight directly to the national office. They succeeded
at winning recognition by the ADL of "the genocide of approximately
1.5 million Armenians'~R from 1915 to 1923.
Had Berman been an apologist for Foxman at the time, it would make
sense for Governor's Council member Marilyn Pettito Devaney and
others to seek an explanation. Devaney is a resident of Watertown,
which boasts a large Armenian community. But Berman was never the
problem in the first place. On the contrary, he and other ADL members
from Boston reset the ADL's moral compass.
Berman's credentials are in order. He has argued cases before the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and Appeals Court. He is an
expert on legal ethics and a respected mediator. Still, the Governor's
Council appears adamant about rejecting him.
Jeffrey Robbins, the chair of the board of the New England
Anti-Defamation League, places the resistance to Berman somewhere on
the path "between mystifying and bizarre.'~R Similar terms have been
used before to describe the actions of the council responsible for
approving and rejecting gubernatorial judicial appointments. Sometimes
the body seems uninterested in the candidates. Other times it gets
bogged down in extraneous or distorted issues, as is happening now
with Berman's nomination. Massachusetts shouldn't be deprived of a
qualified judge for specious reasons.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2013/11/26/governor-council-misinterprets-judicial-nominee-joseph-berman-role-armenian-genocide-dispute/XLrJXu7DWbccGl7yktn0AM/story.html
Boston Globe, MA
Nov 26 2013
November 26, 2013
The Governor's Council is poised to make a profound error by
rejecting a Massachusetts Superior Court nominee based, in part, on
his volunteer activities with the Anti-Defamation League, a national
organization committed to combating anti-Semitism and other forms of
discrimination. Whether through bad faith or a lack of familiarity with
the facts, a majority of the eight-member board appears to believe
that Joseph Berman, a well-regarded trial and appellate lawyer,
didn't stand up for justice during the 2007-08 clash between the
league's national leadership and the Armenian-American community.
Back then, national president Abraham Foxman tarnished the organization
when he failed to acknowledge unambiguously that Ottoman Turks
committed genocide against Armenians during and after World War I. The
ADL's New England branch rebelled, to its credit. Former regional
director Andrew Tarsy was fired by the national office for refusing to
toe the official line. Two local board members, including Boston City
Councilor Michael Ross, resigned. Other local board members, including
Berman, took the fight directly to the national office. They succeeded
at winning recognition by the ADL of "the genocide of approximately
1.5 million Armenians'~R from 1915 to 1923.
Had Berman been an apologist for Foxman at the time, it would make
sense for Governor's Council member Marilyn Pettito Devaney and
others to seek an explanation. Devaney is a resident of Watertown,
which boasts a large Armenian community. But Berman was never the
problem in the first place. On the contrary, he and other ADL members
from Boston reset the ADL's moral compass.
Berman's credentials are in order. He has argued cases before the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and Appeals Court. He is an
expert on legal ethics and a respected mediator. Still, the Governor's
Council appears adamant about rejecting him.
Jeffrey Robbins, the chair of the board of the New England
Anti-Defamation League, places the resistance to Berman somewhere on
the path "between mystifying and bizarre.'~R Similar terms have been
used before to describe the actions of the council responsible for
approving and rejecting gubernatorial judicial appointments. Sometimes
the body seems uninterested in the candidates. Other times it gets
bogged down in extraneous or distorted issues, as is happening now
with Berman's nomination. Massachusetts shouldn't be deprived of a
qualified judge for specious reasons.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2013/11/26/governor-council-misinterprets-judicial-nominee-joseph-berman-role-armenian-genocide-dispute/XLrJXu7DWbccGl7yktn0AM/story.html