Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:
PRESS RELEASE
March 7, 2006
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY FILES AMICUS BRIEF IN GENOCIDE DENIAL CASE
Washington, DC – On March 8, the Armenian Assembly filed an amicus
curiae (“friend of the court”) brief in the matter of Driscoll
v. Griswold (“The Genocide Denial Case”) arguing that the Assembly of
Turkish American Associations (ATAA) and its co-plaintiffs must be
prevented from injecting genocide denial materials into the
Massachusetts school curriculum.
The brief supports the right of the Massachusetts Department of
Education to teach the facts of the Armenian Genocide to public school
students without including denialist materials.
The brief states in part:
“This lawsuit is an unprecedented attempt by the plaintiffs to utilize
the federal courts as a vehicle for their unconstitutional intrusion
into educational policy in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts….It is
not for this Court to decide the appropriate curriculum in
Massachusetts public schools.”
The Massachusetts school curriculum ensures that the lessons of the
Holocaust, Armenian Genocide, Irish Famine and other crimes against
humanity are not forgotten and are thus taught in the classrooms.
Additionally, the Assembly argues that the case should be dismissed
because the plaintiffs have not established a basis for challenging
curricular choices based on the First Amendment.
“No court in the country ever has recognized a First Amendment injury
from having curriculum or a curriculum guide advance a particular
viewpoint,” the Assembly brief states.
“The Assembly’s amicus brief forcefully supports the Commonwealth’s
unassailable legal position regarding the Curriculum Guide on the
Armenian Genocide, of which the plaintiffs have no legal case to
object,” said Assembly Board of Trustees Vice President and Counselor
Robert A. Kaloosdian. “The brief reaffirms the incontrovertible fact
of the Armenian Genocide and thus exposes the revisionism and
denialist tactics employed by those who seek to deny the historical
truth.”
To read the amicus curiae brief or other pleadings filed in this case,
visit the “Genocide Denial Case” section on the Assembly’s home page
at
The Armenian Assembly is the largest Washington-based nationwide
organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian
issue. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.
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NR#2006-021
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress