NINTH CIRCUIT STRIKES DOWN CALIFORNIA LAW ALLOWING ‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’ VICTIMS TO SUE
Jaclyn Belczyk

JURIST
Friday, August 21, 2009

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website]
ruled [opinion, PDF] Thursday that a California state law that
allows descendants of victims of the Armenian Genocide [ANI
backgrounder] to sue in state courts for unpaid insurance benefits
is unconstitutional. The court found that California Civil Procedure
Code § 354.4 [text] "interferes with the national government’s conduct
of foreign relations" because the federal government has declined to
describe the World War I-era killings of over one million Armenians
by Turkish soldiers as genocide. The court concluded:

California Code of Civil Procedure § 354.4 is preempted because it
directly conflicts with the Executive Branch’s foreign policy refusing
to provide official recognition to the "Armenian Genocide." Far from
concerning an area of traditional state interest, § 354.4 impinges
upon the National Government’s ability to conduct foreign affairs.

The lawsuit was brought by a California citizen of Armenian descent
who initiated a class action suit against insurance companies, alleging
they had failed to pay benefits. The plaintiff’s lawyer said he plans
to appeal [San Francisco Chronicle report] the ruling.

In October 2007, the US House of Representatives delayed action [JURIST
report] on a resolution [H Res 106 materials] that would have labeled
the 1915-1918 killings as genocide, a decision that was welcomed
[JURIST report] by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan [BBC
profile]. The proposed legislation was approved by the House Foreign
Relations Committee and had been expected to reach the floor [JURIST
reports] before Congress recessed for the year. Then-Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice had told Congress that the resolution could
"severely harm" US-Turkish relations [JURIST report]. Turkey has long
objected [JURIST comment] to any attempts to classify the 1915 Armenian
killings as genocide. Several other countries – including France,
Canada and Argentina – have nonetheless passed laws or resolutions
[BBC backgrounder] to that effect. The Obama administration’s position
on the matter has not been made clear.
From: Baghdasarian