Literature denying Armenian Genocide won't be included in Massachusetts human rights curriculum

In 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, 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, whose principal spokesperson, Bruce Fein, is one of the most vocal deniers of the Armenian Genocide perpetrated in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

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.

"The Court of Appeals' decision is a major victory for sound education on the Armenian Genocide. The Court defended free speech today and struck a blow to the spurious tactics used by genocide deniers to engage under the pretext of debate. It was especially disturbing that the plaintiffs took to distorting the US Constitution in court and after in public," said Van Z. Krikorian, Assembly Board of Trustees Counselor.