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 For Immediate Release
Sep 5, 2000 Contact: Press Office
202-646-5172
COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF ELIAN PROTESTORS IN CIVIL RIGHTS CASE

Miami Court Rules Discovery May Proceed Against Reno, Meissner, and Holder

Lawsuit Moves Forward Over Violent, Illegal Raid on Gonzalez Family Home

(Washington, DC) A federal court judge in Miami, The Honorable Federico A. Moreno, ruled last week that discovery may proceed in a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of the family members, friends, and neighbors hurt during the Easter-eve raid on Elian Gonzalez’s Miami relatives’ home. The $100 million lawsuit names Attorney General Janet Reno, INS Commissioner Doris Meissner, and Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder as defendants. Judicial Watch represents the 54 plaintiffs in the case. The Clinton-Gore Justice Department had tried to stay discovery in the matter, but was overruled by U.S. District Court Judge Federico A. Moreno in an August 29, 2000 order that read:
    The court has considered the motion and the pertinent portions of the record, and being otherwise fully advised in the premises, it is adjudged that the motion is denied.
The judge’s ruling means that discovery may proceed in the case. Discovery would include obtaining government documents on the raid and depositions from those with information about it, such as Ms. Reno, Ms. Meissner, and Mr. Holder. (In an earlier decision, Judge Moreno ruled that the deposition of Elian Gonzalez might have to take place in Cuba, if it were to occur.) The lawsuit alleges violations of the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights of the Elian protestors who had peaceably gathered the night of the violent raid. The plaintiffs were gassed, beaten, kicked, cursed at, and had guns brandished at them during the raid. The lawsuit also alleges battering rams were used on the protestors and elderly women were gassed as they prayed the Rosary.

“This is an important victory for those freedom-loving protestors and other innocents in Little Havana who were nearly killed by Janet Reno’s ‘shock troops’ for merely exercising their First Amendment rights or for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Discovery will begin as soon as possible,” stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman.

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