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| For Immediate Release | |
| Jun 23, 2000 | Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172 |
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Eleventh Circuit Lacks Courage To Review Its Prior Decision UNFORTUNATELY, GONZALEZ FAMILY LAWYERS HAD NOT PRESENTED KEY DOCUMENTS TO THE COURT (Washington, DC) Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit refused to review its prior petition upholding Attorney General Janet Reno's decision not to provide an asylum hearing to Elian Gonzalez. A lawsuit by Judicial Watch recently uncovered INS documents showing that the Clinton-Gore Administration and Castro had predetermined Elian's fate without regard for the rule of law. These documents had been provided to the lawyers of the Gonzalez family before their latest brief was filed with the appeals court. Inexplicably, little of the documentation was mentioned, much less used as evidence for the record. As a result, Judicial Watch attempted an emergency effort to submit the documents to the appeals court through an amicus curiae, or friend of the court, brief. Apparently, these documents were not considered by the appeals court -- perhaps because they were not substantially provided by the lawyers for the Gonzalez family themselves -- who had legal standing to do so. "Judicial Watch will continue to be supportive of the lawyers for the Gonzalez family with regard to their "hoped-for" appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, this time the public-interest watchdog hopes that they will use all available means to win the case, and save little Elian from a future of despair in Cuba's Communist cesspool," stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman. "Today was truly a dark day in American legal history, since it appears that the court followed the polls, not the law," added Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. |
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