Attorney General of the United States v. Irish Northern Aid Committee

530 F. Supp. 241, 10 Fed. R. Serv. 366, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12791
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedApril 30, 1981
Docket77 Civ. 708-CSH
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 530 F. Supp. 241 (Attorney General of the United States v. Irish Northern Aid Committee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Attorney General of the United States v. Irish Northern Aid Committee, 530 F. Supp. 241, 10 Fed. R. Serv. 366, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12791 (S.D.N.Y. 1981).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

HAIGHT, District Judge:

Plaintiff, the Attorney General of the United States, brings this action to enjoin defendant Irish Northern Aid Committee (“INAC”) from violating the provisions of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (the “Act”), 22 U.S.C. § 611 et seq., and its accompanying regulations, 28 C.F.R. § 5.1-.801. The Court has jurisdiction to issue permanent injunctive relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1345 and 22 U.S.C. § 618(f). The case is now before the Court on plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment dismissing defendant’s counterclaims and granting the relief sought in the complaint. Defendant opposes the motion and cross-moves for an order striking certain sections of an affidavit submitted in support of plaintiff’s motion.

I.

The general purpose of the Act is to protect the security and foreign relations of this country by requiring agents of foreign principals to identify themselves and disclose their activities. “Resting on the fundamental constitutional principle that our people, adequately informed, may be trusted to distinguish between the true and false, the [Act] is intended to label information of foreign origin so that hearers and readers may not be deceived by the belief that the information comes from a disinterested source.” Viereck v. United States, 318 U.S. 236, 251, 63 S.Ct. 561, 568, 87 L.Ed. 734 (Black, J., dissenting). To accomplish these goals, the Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder specify in some detail who must register, the type and form of information that must be revealed, and the frequency with which supplemental registration statements must be filed. The Act vests initial responsibility for enforcing the Act in the Attorney General:

“Whenever in the judgment of the Attorney General any person is engaged in or about to engage in any acts which constitute or will constitute a violation of any provision of this subchapter, or regulations issued thereunder, or whenever any agent of a foreign principal fails to comply with any of the provisions of this subchapter or the regulations issued thereunder, or otherwise is in violation of the subchapter, the Attorney General may make application to the appropriate United States district court for an order enjoining such acts or enjoining such person from continuing to act as an agent of such foreign principal, or for an order requiring compliance with any appropriate provision of the subchapter or regulation thereunder. The district court shall have jurisdiction and authority to issue a temporary or permanent injunction, restraining order or such other order which it may deem proper. The proceedings shall be made a preferred cause and shall be expedited in every way.”

22 U.S.C. § 618(f). In addition to these civil remedies, willful violation of any provision of the Act is a criminal offense. Id. § 618(a).

In accordance with the terms of the Act, INAC, an unincorporated association with main offices in the Bronx, first registered as an agent of a foreign principal in 1971. In its original registration statement, INAC described itself as “a voluntary group who collect what money and clothing we can and send it on for use by the oppressed people” of Northern Ireland, Jan. 1981 Statement, Exhibit B, ¶ 4, and listed as its foreign principal the Northern Aid Committee, Belfast, Ireland. In addition, INAC’s three “United States Representatives,” the apparent equivalents of officers or directors, Messrs. Michael Flannery, John McCarthy, *246 and John McGowan, 1 filed the required short-form registration statements.

While defendant has at least partially complied with the various requirements of the Act by filing required semi-annual reports, plaintiff complains that defendant has not filed the supplemental information, statements and documents necessary to make its registration statement and subsequent reports true and complete. Specifically, the amended complaint 2 alleges various violations by defendant of 22 U.S.C. § 612(a), 3 to wit, that defendant has failed *247 to identify as a foreign principal the Irish Republican Army, Provisional Wing (“IRA”) (¶ 7); that defendant has not fully identified its officers, employees, affiliates, branches, and other persons or groups acting for or in concert with it (¶ 8(a)); that defendant has not given the true and complete address of the Northern Aid Committee, its disclosed foreign principal (¶ 8(b)); that defendant has not described in detail its activities on behalf of a foreign principal (¶ 8(c)); that defendant has not provided an accurate accounting of its receipts and disbursements, including the source or recipient, as well as the amounts, purpose and time {Th 8(d)(e)); and that defendant has not filed accurate and complete statements regarding the preparation and dissemination of political propaganda, as that term is defined in § 1 of the Act (¶ 8(f)). The amended complaint further charges violations of 22 U.S.C. § 614, 4 in that defendant *248 has disseminated written material containing political propaganda without first filing the statutorily mandated two copies as well as a signed statement setting forth the time, place and extent of the proposed dissemination; and has failed to label the material as required by § 614(b) (¶¶ 10, 11). The Attorney General prays for injunctive relief compelling compliance, both with respect to future conduct and to past statements, insofar as they can be amended.

Defendant, in its amended answer, denies all allegations of the complaint, except that it admits that it is an “unincorporated committee” in the Bronx, and that on or about January 29, 1971 it complied with the directives of the Attorney General and registered as an agent of a foreign principal, thereafter filing semi-annual registration statements. In respect of • these actions, defendant alleges that it did so “under duress,” and “following a course of unabated harassment on the part of the plaintiff.” In a series of affirmative defenses, the defendant alleges harassment and victimization by various illegal Government activities; that the Act is unconstitutional on its face and as applied to INAC; that the action is barred by laches; that the action results from illegal electronic surveillance; that defendant is exempt from the requirements of the act pursuant to 22 U.S.C.

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Bluebook (online)
530 F. Supp. 241, 10 Fed. R. Serv. 366, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12791, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/attorney-general-of-the-united-states-v-irish-northern-aid-committee-nysd-1981.