YerevanReport.com
Aug 13 2010
Armenia
Aug 13th, 2010 | Category: Politics WASHINGTON, DC, August 13-On
Wednesday, a unanimous opinion written by retired Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court David Souter, sitting on a three judge panel
including Michael Boudin and Jeffery R. Howard of the United States
Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, affirmed the decision of a lower court dismissing
the Griswold v. Driscoll case, in which plaintiffs argued for the
inclusion of genocide denial literature in the Massachusetts human
rights curriculum, reported the Armenian Assembly of America.
The suit filed in 2005 under the guise of a First Amendment case
by the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) and its
supporters hoped to undermine the teaching of the genocide against
the Armenian people in public schools by inserting genocide denial
literature in the state mandated curriculum. ATAA was joined in its
campaign by the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund, whose principal
spokesperson, Bruce Fein, is one of the most vocal deniers of the
Armenian Genocide. The Court’s decision effectively marks a major
defeat for deniers.
The court explicitly ruled against ATAA for waiting so long to
complain, and ruled against the individual plaintiffs on First
Amendment and standing grounds. Significantly, the court decided that
the Guide on Armenian Genocide instruction fit into the curriculum
classification rather than a school library, and even if the school
library cases did apply, that law would not allow the genocide denial
actions that the plaintiffs sought.
The plaintiffs’ attorney Harvey Silverglate took the position that
“contra-genocide” websites should be included in the curriculum,
overlooking the inherent contradiction of “contra-genocide”
information, which does hold a position on the Armenian Genocide
by disputing or denying it. Silverglate also failed to advise the
court that the websites in question, whether of the ATAA or the
Turkish Embassy, display brazenly denialist pages on the Armenian
Genocide, therein holding yet again a very distinct view of history,
disqualifying them as either pedagogically objective or scholarly.
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Panorama
> Aug 12 2010
> Armenia
>
> United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in the
> Commonwealth of Massachusetts, today affirmed the decision of a
> lower court dismissing the Griswold v. Driscoll case, in which
> plaintiffs argued for the inclusion of genocide denial literature
> in the Massachusetts human rights curriculum, reported the Armenian
> Assembly of America (Assembly).
>
> The suit filed in 2005 under the guise of a First Amendment case by the
> Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) and its supporters
> hoped to undermine the teaching of the Armenian Genocide in public
> schools by inserting genocide denial literature in the state mandated
> curriculum. ATAA was joined in its campaign by the Turkish American
> Legal Defense Fund.
>
> The Armenian Assembly said it appreciates the court’s ruling in this
> matter as it sends a clear message to Turkey.
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