Susana Barciela. Published Monday, June 12, 2000, in the Miami Herald
Senior U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King had been listening to arguments for a long time when the clock approached 6 p.m. in Miami's federal courthouse. More of the same, after 2 1/2 years of hearings and briefs and an appeal since December 1997. That's when Judge King found the Cuban
government in ``outrageous contempt'' of law for shooting down two Brothers to the Rescue planes. The judge awarded $187 million in damages to the relatives of the murdered fliers.
Since the award, practically all legal arguments have been about the payment. This hearing was no different. Judge King listened patiently, considering his skeptical questioning of Carol Federighi, a lawyer for the U.S. government, which has blocked all collection efforts.
At issue last Thursday were nearly $38 million in frozen bank deposits at Chase Manhattan. The funds include access fees owed Cuba by U.S. phone carriers that provided service to the island. The bank wanted to hand over the funds to the court, to get rid of this ``hot potato,'' as Chase
Manhattan's attorney called the Cuban money. But Ms. Federighi insisted that the bank must keep the frozen funds. Chase can't put those funds into an account controlled by the court, she told Judge King, ``and the court can't order it to.''
The judge made a different point: Had any other party objected to the bank satisfying a federal court order to pay a creditor, Chase would have shrugged and paid out. ``If big government can interfere in the penalty phase of a civil lawsuit,'' he said, ``we've come to a sad phase of our
democracy.''
Judge King's obvious doubts about the U.S. government's standing gave Ms. Federighi no pause. ``The U.S. believes it has standing to appeal, even if standing is denied,'' she said.
Further, she argued only the executive branch can disburse frozen assets. ``That is discretionary,'' she said, ``and not reviewable.'' That was greeted with involuntary tittering by those watching the proceeding.
``That sound you hear is the Founding Fathers twirling in their graves,'' Judge King retorted.
Attorneys for the Miami relatives had eloquently argued against the government's positions when Judge King amiably promised Ms. Federighi that he would rule on the U.S. government's standing before deciding on Chase Manhattan's request.
When patience finally ran out, Judge King did rule from the bench: He denied the U.S. government's request to intervene and told Chase Manhattan to hand over the hot potato.
The Miami families were treated to sweet justice that afternoon. Yet, neither vindication nor money is likely to come soon. The U.S. government intends to appeal. AT&T, which claims an interest in the funds at Chase, also has a pending appeal.
Imagine the frustration. In all the arguments about the money, no one claims that Cuba's terrorist regime is innocent or that terrorist states shouldn't be punished. No one denies that the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 intended to give American victims a legal way to
punish the terrorist state responsible or that punitive damages might prevent future terrorist acts.
Meanwhile, the most contemptible stumbling block before the Miami families and other Americans with similar multimillion-dollar judgments is their own U.S. government, also known as the Clinton administration.
The same President Clinton who signed the legislation allowing Americans to sue terrorist states for damages is now systematically trying to stop them from collecting.
It boggles the mind, even of cynics.
sbarciela@herald.com
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