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32 Loy. L.A. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 19 (2010)
International Wrongs, State Laws and Presidential Policies

handle is hein.journals/loyint32 and id is 21 raw text is: International Wrongs, State Laws and Presidential Policies MICHAEL D. RAMSEY* In Movsesian v. Victoria Versicherung AG,' the Ninth Circuit invalidated a California law on the grounds that it conflicted with, and therefore was preempted by, the President's foreign policy. In the comments below, I suggest that this decision is counter to the Supreme Court's 2008 decision in Medellin v. Texas' and conflicts with basic principles of U.S. constitutional law. More broadly, I will consider the effect of presidential policies on state laws that, like the California law at issue in Movsesian, seek to provide or promote remedies for international wrongs. Movsesian invalidated California Code of Civil Procedure Section 354.4, which provides jurisdiction and an extended statute of limitations for California residents to bring insurance claims arising out of the unrest in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. This unrest principally targeted ethnic Armenians and has been described as a genocide against the Armenian community. That designation, though, is deeply contested, especially by the current government of Turkey. The California statute adopted the phrase Armenian Genocide victim as a statutory definition for persons who had suffered injuries during the period, but in fact no legal consequence turned upon the statute's use of this phrase, and * Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law. The author participated as counsel to amici curiae Professors of Constitutional Law and Foreign Relations Law in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants in Weiss v. Assicurazione Generali, S.P.A., No. 05-5612 (2d Cir. 2010), in which some of the arguments presented here were further developed. The author also participated in a amici curiae brief supporting the state of Texas in Medellin v. Texas, 552 U.S. 491 (2008), and served as consulting co-counsel to the California Insurance Commissioner in American Insurance Association v. Garamendi, 539 U.S. 394 (2003). 1. Movsesian v. Victoria Versicherung AG, 578 F.3d 1052 (9th Cir. 2009). 2. Medellin v. Texas, 552 U.S. 491 (2008). 19

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