For Immediate Release

Contact:
Sandy Jones or Rick Wayman
(805) 965-3443
sjones@napf.org
rwayman@napf.org

STRONG SUPPORT FOR MARSHALL ISLANDS’ NUCLEAR ZERO LAWSUIT

Groups from all sectors of society offer crucial support for Marshall Islands Appeal

Santa Barbara, July 21 – Five amicus curiae briefs were filed yesterday in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and their Appeal of the District Court’s dismissal of the Nuclear Zero Lawsuit. These briefs represent critical support for the RMI in their efforts to appeal the Court’s dismissal.

Judge Jeffrey White granted the U.S. government’s motion to dismiss the case on February 3, 2015 on jurisdictional grounds. The RMI strongly disagreed with the Court’s decision to dismiss and filed its Notice of Appeal on April 2, 2015 and its Appeal Brief on July 13, 2015.

The amicus curiae briefs were submitted by the following organizations:

  • Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy
  • Global Justice Center
  • United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America; International Commission for Labor Rights; and Labor and Employment Committee of the National Lawyers Guild
  • Tri-Valley CAREs
  • International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Physicians for Social Responsibility and Pax Christi International.

These organizations represent a powerful and diverse cross-section of society and indicate widespread support for the Marshall Islands in their quest to attain court enforcement of the obligations of the nuclear-armed nations to pursue negotiations for nuclear disarmament.

Additionally, Mayors from 6 U.S. cities – Little Rock, Arkansas; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Rochester, Minnesota; Eugene and Beaverton, Oregon; and Urbana, Illinois – have submitted an amicus curiae letter to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. These Mayors belong to the U.S Conference of Mayors and the international organization, Mayors for Peace.

Their letter quotes the 2014 Resolution of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which “…commend the Republic of the Marshall Islands for calling to the world’s attention the failure of the nine nuclear-armed states to comply with their international obligations to pursue negotiations for the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons, and call on the U.S. to respond constructively and in good faith to the lawsuits brought by the RMI.” Further, the letter cites their 2015 Resolution which “…calls on the President and Congress to reduce nuclear weapons spending to the minimum necessary…and to redirect those funds to address the pressing needs of cities.

The amicus curiae briefs and letter can be read in their entirety at nuclearzero.org/in-the-courts.

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Note to editor: to arrange interviews with David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation or Laurie Ashton, lead counsel for the RMI, please call Sandy Jones or Rick Wayman at (805) 965-3443.

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation was founded in 1982. Its mission is to educate and advocate for peace and a world free of nuclear weapons and to empower peace leaders. The Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with consultative status to the United Nations and is comprised of individuals and groups worldwide who realize the imperative for peace in the Nuclear Age.