Khachatourian: Lawyers to Appeal 9th Circuit Court Ruling

LOS ANGELES—Attorneys representing the heirs of Armenian Genocide victims seeking life insurance payments on their relatives’ policies before 2010 will appeal the recent ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals before Sept. 10, attorney Mark Geragos told Asbarez last week. The ruling rejected a California law, saying it amounted to unconstitutional meddling in U.S. foreign policy.

In a telephone interview, Geragos, who is one of three attorney representing the victims’ heirs, said that they will appeal the Aug. 20 decision. They will also ask for the matter to be heard by the entire U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeal panel, what is known in legal terms as an “En Banc” hearing.

“It’s an absurd ruling,” said Geragos. “A wrongheaded ruling, and we hope to get an ‘En Banc’ hearing.”

“The Feds have not expressed an opinion, they’ve said they have no opinion,” he added. “This is purely an insurance issue. We are suing a company that’s in Europe. They had policies to pay.”

Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) also called the court’s reasoning “peculiar and misguided.”

“This decision was focused on a law that Chuck Poochigian and I crafted when I was in the State Senate,” Schiff told Asbarez. “I didn’t believe that our work was preempted by federal law then, and don’t believe it is preempted now.”

The California Legislature had passed the law, giving the heirs of the victims until the end of next year to file claims for old bank accounts and life insurance policies, effectively extending the statute of limitations on such matters.

Schiff also said that the fact that California and 41 other states have recognized the Genocide should have prompted the court to make a different ruling.

“The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals is an affront to the Armenian American community and, if allowed to stand, sets a dangerous precedent by rewarding the Turkish government’s efforts on the federal level to deny and cover up the Armenian Genocide,” said Armenian National Committee-Western Region board chairman Vicken Sonentz-Papazian.

“The message this decision sends is that if you can threaten, cajole, and stonewall the U.S. government into inaction on a ‘foreign policy’ issue, you can eliminate a valid and righteous claim of an American citizen in a U.S. court of law,” he added.

Class-action lawsuits brought by heirs of genocide victims in California and other states led to a $20 million settlement with New York Life Insurance Co. in 2005 and a $17 million settlement the same year with French life insurer AXA.

Geragos said the time had come for Armenians throughout the world to focus on the reparations issue.

“Clearly we should be bringing suits all over the world,” said Geragos, adding that in a society where such matters are decided by the judiciary, the community should become more active in the pursuit of large corporations, such as insurance companies and banks, that might be holding assets that belonged to genocide victims.

“We have been focusing on the political aspects of the genocide. We need to marry the political with the legal,” added Geragos.

“There should either be a reversal [of the ruling] by a higher court or legislative action to reframe the statute,” said Schiff, who called on the community to urge an appeal. He also said he would be looking into possible federal legislation that might rectify the situation.

Geragos also urged the community to become more active in this matter, urging community organizations such as the ANC, the Armenian Bar Association, and others to file amicus briefs in support of the “En Banc” review.

“This is a temporary setback and we will overcome this,” said Schiff. “Unfortunately, it just adds injury to injury.”