by PRESTON H. LIM, Attorney at Bird Marella
On July 30, 2013, the city of Glendale unveiled a monument in Glendale Central Park, a 1100-pound bronze statue of a girl in a traditional Korean dress sitting next to an open seat with a bird perched on her left shoulder. The city of Glendale installed the monument as a tribute to the women who were forced into sexual slavery. The stone plaque of the monument is titled “I Was a Sex Slave of the Japanese Military,” and reads, in part: In memory of more than 200,000 Asian and Dutch women who were removed from their homes in Korea, China, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, East Timor and Indonesia, to be coerced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Armed Forces of Japan between 1932 and 1945.
And in celebration of proclamation of ‘Comfort Women Day’ by the city of Glendale on July 30, 2013, and of passing House Resolution 121 by the United States Congress on July 30, 2007, urging the Japanese Government to accept historical responsibility for these crimes.
It is our sincere hope that these unconscionable violations of human rights never recur.
On Feb. 20, 2014, two individuals, a resident of Glendale and a resident of Los Angeles, together with a nonprofit organization, filed a lawsuit against the city of Glendale and asked that the monument be removed. Specifically, the plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging, among other things, that the city of Glendale’s installation of the monument “interferes with the Executive Branch’s primary authority to conduct foreign relations by disrupting foreign policy as to the resolution of the historical debate concerning comfort women.” The plaintiffs also alleged that the monument violated the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution. (Compl. ¶ 59.)
On Aug. 4, 2014, the federal court dismissed the case in its entirety and concluded that the plaintiffs did not have standing to pursue their claims. Notably, the court held that “the relationship between the legal harm and the offense Plaintiffs have taken to the existence of the monument is simply too attenuated to confer standing on Plaintiffs to pursue the federal claim they have asserted in this action.” (See August 4, 2014, order.)
The court stated that “Glendale’s placement of the Comfort Women monument in its Central Park does not pose the type of interference with the federal government’s foreign affairs powers that states a plausible claim for relief. Instead, even according to the facts alleged in the Complaint, Glendale’s placement of the statue is entirely consistent with the federal government’s foreign policy.” (Id.)
Based on the court’s analysis, the court dismissed plaintiffs’ federal claims with prejudice.
For more information about this case, please visit KABA’s website at www.kabasocal.org.
This post was sponsored by KABA, which is part of KoreAm’s Community Network, a section reserved for local and national nonprofit organizations. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of KoreAm.
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Korean American Bar Association (KABA)
A nonprofit organization established in 1980, KABA seeks to foster the exchange of ideas and information among members of the legal profession, judiciary and community. KABA encourages and promotes the professional growth of its members through fellowship among members and cooperation with other organizations of minority attorneys.
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