U.S. judge rules that Palestinian Authority has right to cover up memo linking it to jihad-martyrdom suicide murder of two teens

How compromised is the American legal system? This compromised. "US judge backs Palestinian Authority's bid to conceal memo linking it to 2002 Israel bombing," by Bruce Golding for the New York Post, January 14 (thanks to Anne Crockett):

A Us judge has ruled that the Palestinian Authority has the right to cover up a memo linking it to a suicide bombing that killed two teen American citizens in Israel, The Post has learned.

The document — accidentally handed over to lawyers suing the authority for $300 million on behalf of the teens’ parents — reveals a “close relationship” between the bomber and a captain in the Palestinian Authority security forces who planned the terror attack, court papers say.

The two-page memo, written in April 2012 by Maj. Ziad Abu Hamid of the authority’s General Intelligence Service, also details “at least six other critical facts” about the 2002 bombing and “clearly establishes the defendants’ material support and liability,” the federal court filing says.

But Washington, DC, federal Judge Richard Leon ordered the memo returned or destroyed after the authority’s lawyers claimed it was “privileged and protected” information.

Scott Shatsky, 60, the Brooklyn-born father of one victim, called the decision “incomprehensible.”

“It makes me feel that justice is not being done,” the Brighton Beach native said. “Maybe I’m missing something, but to me it’s just outrageous.”...

You're not missing anything.

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Talking about Palestine and Muslims,Check out this:

"More than 100,000 Christians killed in 2012,for their Faith,according to Italian Scholar Massimo Introvigne"

http://www.antisharia.com/2013/01/14/more-than-100000-christians-killed-in-2012for-their-faithaccording-to-italian-scholar-massimo-introvigne/

AND ALSO

"Al-Hussaini,Grand Mufti of the Palestinians and Ally of Hitler"

http://www.antisharia.com/2011/04/24/al-hussainigrand-mufti-of-the-palestinians-and-ally-of-hitler/

Check out this:

"More than 100,000 Christians killed in 2012,for their Faith,according to Italian Scholar Massimo Introvigne"

http://www.antisharia.com/2013/01/14/more-than-100000-christians-killed-in-2012for-their-faithaccording-to-italian-scholar-massimo-introvigne/

AND ALSO

"Al-Hussaini,Grand Mufti of the Palestinians and Ally of Hitler"

http://www.antisharia.com/2011/04/24/al-hussainigrand-mufti-of-the-palestinians-and-ally-of-hitler/

The Muslim Brotherhood in America: Ten Part Video Course
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On page 222 (326 in the Arabic) of the earliest Muslim biography of Muhammad, Muhammad agrees with Abu jahl that those who do not follow Muhammad will be "slaughtered":

Abu jahl said to them: "Muhammad alleges that if you follow him you will be kings of the Arabs and the Persians. Then after death you will be raised to gardens like those of the Jordan. But if you do not follow him you will be slaughtered, and when you are raised from the dead you will be burned in the fire of hell." The apostle [Muhammad] came out to them with a handful of dust saying: "I do say that."
-- Quoting Islam

No doubt the Obama administration told the judge that it is against the National Security Interest of the United States that the PA have to pay anything. The outcome of this case was decided before it began.

It's becoming quite fashionable these days to support everything sharia...If Mahoundian supremists in Gaza or the PA say something is privileged information, the Judge must bow to it...

@duh swami, memo and RS,
The Post article reporting on this court decision neglected to tell us on what legal basis the memo in question was ruled by the judge to be privileged. There are several categories of speech or documents that are legally privileged and are therefor immune from discovery or use in a legal proceeding. Communictions between a client and his lawyer or doctor are examples. There are others. Unless one knows on what basis the court made its ruling there is no basis on which to claim there been judicial error much less foul play. YOU LOSE CREDIBILITY ARGUING OTHERWISE.

Pre-9/11 judge (literally!)

Leon was nominated to the US District Court for DC by George W. Bush on... September 10, 2001.

Pre-9/11 judge (literally!)

Leon was nominated to the US District Court for DC by George W. Bush on... September 10, 2001.

The privilege claimed in this case was the attorney-client privilege, one of the oldest and most closely guarded privileges in the American legal system. The right to have a lawyer represent you isn't worth much if your lawyer could be compelled to tell the court everything you said to the lawyer.
In this case, the document in question was a two page memorandum written by an agent of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service. The PA claimed that this document was prepared at the request of the PA's defense counsel in April, 2012, long after the case was begun. The document also bore the handwritten notes of one of the PA’s attorneys. The memorandum detailed the PA's and the PFLP's funding of and responsibility for the terrorist bombing in which the plaintiffs' decedents were killed and represented a virtual “smoking gun” for the plaintiffs.
The PA claimed that this document had been "inadvertently" produced and because it was subject to attorney-client privilege, they asked that the court order it be returned to them or destroyed. In support of their motion, the PA submitted sworn affidavits of their attorneys as to the provenance of the document at issue. The plaintiffs' position was that the document was not subject to the privilege and that the PA was actually engaged in an attempt to conceal this highly incriminating document.
Unfortunately, the problem for the plaintiffs is that their lawyers failed to file their opposition to the PA's request on time. In fact, the oppositions had to be filed by November 26 and they did not file until November 27. Then, AFTER THE TIME FOR FILING HAD RUN OUT, the plaintiffs' lawyers filed a request with the court for "after-the-fact" permission to file their oppositions late and gave a lot of excuses for why they were late. Generally, the time to ask for more time is BEFORE you miss the filing deadline. In order to get more time, the rules require that the party asking for more time must show "good cause" why the extra time should be granted. Under federal law, the "good cause" standard is a fairly high bar. For example, "I couldn't file it on time because I had a stroke/heart attack/was mugged and spent two weeks in intensive care ... " would probably meet that standard. By contrast, "My secretary quit..." or "I was very busy with other cases..." or "I underestimated how long it would take me...." are probably not going to work. (As an interesting side note, the lawyer who was handling this part of the case actually tried the underestimated the time argument as one of his many reasons. He has since withdrawn from representing the plaintiffs.)
Judge Leon denied the plaintiffs' lawyers request for leave to file their opposition late or to have the court accept the late filing, so it would appear that, legally speaking, the PA's motion to have the document destroyed was, for all practical purposes, unopposed.
As an update, the plaintiffs have appealed Judge Leon’s order to the US Court of Appeals and they have asked the Court of Appeals for a stay of Judge Leon’s order. The request for a stay is still pending as of this evening. I expect the requested stay will probably be granted.

darshmuck, a better rule of thumb pertaining to judges and rulings that defy common sense, is to assume corruption until proven otherwise.

Thanks for revealing the interesting details. How is it you are so familiar with them? Court clerk? Someone's secretary?
One can only wonder whether the plaintiff's opposition would habe been successful in overcoming the privilege. Of course, even if the memo itself may not be admitted into evidence, the facts contained within it are not inadmissable and now the plaintiffs have a pretty good road map to design their discovery to obtain those facts in admissable form.

Assuming corruption, like assuming guilt, runs counter to the most fundamental civil rights upon which the USA is founded. Your comment reveals a very disturbed mind.

While I am a trial and appellate lawyer, I am not involved in this case in any way.

Except for the memorandum which the PA is trying to get destroyed (which is currently filed with the court under seal), the rest of the documents are public record. They are also available online to any lawyer who subscribes to a database called PACER. I found the documents online and read them.

One amendment to my earlier post. The "good cause" standard applies if a party asks for an extension of time BEFORE the time runs out. AFTER the time runs out the standard changes to "excusable neglect." Excusable neglect can be an even tougher burden to overcome, but the analysis I provided in my earlier post is as applicable to excusable neglect as to good cause.

While I am not naive enough to think that federal judges can't be corrupted, I still believe that before we "indict and convict" any judge, we ought to first examine the facts. To accuse judges of impropriety or impugn the entire judicial system without first knowing the history of the case or the applicable law tends to diminish the force of our arguments.

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