In November, Palestinian Americans with family in Gaza, civil rights and human rights groups filed a lawsuit against President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken and Secretary of Defense Austin claiming that these state actors had violated international law by failing to prevent a genocide in Gaza. A lower court dismissed the case in January. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White stated that the substance of the lawsuit (i.e. evidence of atrocities committed against Palestinians since October 7), which were read into the public record by the plaintiffs in the case, “plausibly” constituted genocide. However, he dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds, reasoning that matters of foreign policy should not be decided on by the courts but by the executive branch of the U.S. government. The case was later appealed and dismissed again, with the appeals court deciding to back the lower court’s decision.
Last month, a group of legal experts, ex-diplomats, and human rights groups filed an en banc petition, urging a panel of judges to reconsider this case. Seven amici briefs were filed last week in support of their petition. One of those briefs was authored by Maria Kari, a human rights lawyer and co-founder of the Gaza Family Project, which provides free legal aid to Palestinian Americans rescuing their extended family members in Gaza. Kari and her team of pro bono attorneys have successfully evacuated 70 Palestinian Americans.
Learn more about that work here: https://acrlmich.org/gaza-family-project/
Access the amici briefs here: https://ccrjustice.org/DCIP-v-Biden
26 protesters were arraigned today at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco for allegedly participating in a protest that blocked the Golden Gate bridge on April 15. According to Jeff Wozniak, a criminal defense attorney and member of the legal team representing the Golden Gate 26, the number of charges being levied against the protesters is unprecedented. Wozniak says one of the preliminary motions being filed in this case will urge the court to recuse DA Jenkins due to conflicts of interest. The defense alleges that she and her office have ties to the Israeli Consulate and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a pro-Israel lobbying group. Wassim Hage, an organizer with the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) claims that the actions of District Attorney Brooke Jenkins do not reflect the popular sentiments of the San Franciscans she was elected by but instead are politically motivated.
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