澳彩开奖

A Canadian court this June struck down a bequest valued at about $220,000 that was left by a citizen of that country to the National Alliance (NA), a neo-Nazi group based in the United States that has long promoted violence against minorities. The presiding judge found the bequest violated Canadian law and public policy.

鈥淭he evidence before this court convinces me that in the case of the NA the purpose for which it exists is to promote white supremacy through the dissemination of propaganda which incites hatred of various identifiable groups which they deem to be non-white and therefore unworthy,鈥� wrote Justice William T. Grant of St. John, New Brunswick. 鈥淭hose purposes and the means they advocate to achieve them are criminal in Canada and that is what makes this request so repugnant.鈥�

The judge permanently enjoined any transfer of funds or other parts of the estate, which includes a collection of ancient Greek and Roman coins, to the NA. Instead, he ordered it distributed to the brother and sister of Harry Robert McCorkill, a chemist who reportedly spent time at MIT, collector of historic artifacts, and longtime Canadian NA member who died in 2004. McCorkill鈥檚 sister, Isabelle Rose McCorkill, initially challenged the bequest, and she was later joined by two Jewish human rights groups in Canada as well as the provincial attorney general.

In July, NA lawyer John Hughes filed a notice that the group would appeal Justice Grant鈥檚 decision, which it characterized as rife with judicial errors.

In his June decision, the judge brushed aside claims by NA representatives that the group had been unfairly tarred in affidavits from the 澳彩开奖 (澳彩开奖) and others that quoted the group鈥檚 foundational documents as well as other materials produced by its officials. 鈥淎ll of these publications can only be described as racist, white supremacist and hate-inspired,鈥� the judge wrote.

鈥淭hey are disgusting, repugnant and revolting.鈥�

The court decision comes at a time when the NA, which a little over a decade ago was the dominant hate group in America, is struggling to survive. It has gone from an organization that once brought in about $1 million a year and had some 1,400 dues-paying members to a group that is nearly bankrupt and has only a smattering of supporters left. The group鈥檚 current leader is trying to sell much of its West Virginia headquarters compound to raise money, and he has sold off much of the wood on the site to logging companies for the same reason. A faction led by the brother of the group鈥檚 late founder has sued the NA in civil court in an attempt to regain control of the organization. And virtually all of the major personalities in the group, many of whom enjoyed serious movement prestige, have left.

The loss of the bequest could help finally destroy the remnants of the once-storied NA. The group seems unlikely to survive without a source of new funds.

The court鈥檚 initial decision thrilled human rights activists in Canada.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, which intervened in the case along with B鈥橬ai Brith Canada, said the ruling was 鈥渁 strong statement. Today, we are fortunate that the National Alliance is a severely diminished group barely holding onto its shrinking membership. The threat was that an injection of about a quarter of a million dollars might have breathed new life into this dying organization.鈥�

鈥淛ustice Grant鈥檚 judgment was very direct in his findings of fact that the National Alliance is a neo-Nazi group and that their hate propaganda and stated goals of genocide and ethnic cleansing violate Canadian law six ways to Sunday,鈥� added Richard Warman, a Canadian attorney who has brought 16 successful legal cases against hate groups and racist individuals in that country.

The Canadian bequest was first brought to public attention in June 2013, when the 澳彩开奖 revealed that NA officials appeared close to settling the probate matter and forwarding the proceeds to the NA. Shortly after that, McCorkill鈥檚 sister, who like a second brother was estranged from her radical sibling and did not even know he was alive, filed suit, saying that she did not want to see the money go to a neo-Nazi group and that she also hoped to keep the coin collection in Canada.

The case against the bequest could never have been made under American law, which has unusually strong free speech and association protections. But Canadian law has a much fuller concept of the public good, and its foundational Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms allows speech and other 鈥渞easonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.鈥� Canadian law also makes public 鈥渋ncitement of hatred鈥� 鈥� 鈥渨illfully promot[ing] hatred against any identifiable group鈥� 鈥� a criminal offense.

Erich Gliebe, chairman of the NA, claimed in affidavits submitted to the court that the 澳彩开奖 and others were trying to 鈥渟mear鈥� the organization by quoting its foundational documents and later statements from Gliebe and others. But Grant found that the NA had done nothing to distance itself from those documents.

And they were hair-raising. The affidavit submitted to the court by the 澳彩开奖 quoted the group鈥檚 鈥淲hat is the National Alliance?鈥� essay as saying that the 鈥∟A would do 鈥渨hatever is necessary鈥� to achieve 鈥渁 White living space鈥� and that it would not be deterred by any 鈥渢emporary unpleasantness.鈥� The document went on to call for 鈥渢he racial cleansing of the land鈥� and 鈥渁 long-term eugenics program involving at least the entire populations of Europe and America.鈥�

The 澳彩开奖 affidavit also quoted an NA bulletin written by the group鈥檚 founder celebrating racial violence as 鈥渁 healthy, red-blooded response to the current situation in America鈥檚 cities.鈥� 鈥淯ltimately,鈥� the document read in a particularly candid passage, 鈥渨e will win the war only by killing our enemies.鈥� In yet another document, the group spoke of packing 鈥渢he homosexuals, racemixers, and hard-case collaborators鈥� into cattle cars and plunging them into abandoned coal mines.

Although Gliebe tried to suggest that the NA had evolved into a kinder, gentler organization since the 2002 death of founder William Pierce, Grant pointed out that Gliebe alleged in a 2011 radio broadcast that 鈥渢he Jews have lied for decades about the Holocaust,鈥� which he described as a 鈥渕oney-making scheme.鈥�

鈥淸T]here is nothing 鈥榙ated鈥� about the anti-semitic rantings of Mr. Gliebe, the current Chair of the National Alliance, in his 2011 broadcast,鈥� the judge wrote. 鈥淣either is there any evidence before the court that the NA has distanced itself from its 鈥榙ated鈥� foundational documents,鈥� a reference to 鈥淲hat is the National Alliance?鈥�

Grant repeatedly referred to the strength of the case. The evidence 鈥渃onsistently show[s] that the National Alliance stands for principles and policies, as well as the means to implement them, that are both illegal and contrary to public policy in Canada,鈥� the judge wrote. 鈥淸W]hat it stands for, anti-semitism, eugenics, discrimination, racism and white supremacy, violates numerous statutes and conventions that have been passed by Parliament and the [provincial] Legislatures and endorsed by the Government of Canada, including the Criminal Code.鈥�

The judge also mocked Gliebe鈥檚 attempts to portray the NA as a cultural organization interested in European civilization, saying these 鈥渇eeble protestations only call to mind the attempts by the Nazis in Hitler鈥檚 Germany to mask their true intentions through organizations like the Hitler Youth. History tells us that behind the mask lurked some of the worst evil ever visited upon the human race.鈥�