Murray v Geitner et al.
N/AOUTCOME: Court denied government's motion to dismiss
US government acquired ownership and control of AIG in the "too-big-to-fail" bail out program. AIG, however, was a promoter and provider of Shariah-compliant insurance. David Yerushalmi joined forces w ... ith the Thomas More Law Center to represent plaintiff Murry in a suit alleging that the USG was now effectively in the business of promoting Shariah or Islamic law in violation of the First Amendment. The government filed a motion to dismiss claiming that Mr. Murray had no standing to bring the lawsuit and that if he had standing, the government had no intention of promoting Islam or Shariah and the case should be dismissed summarily. Messrs. Yerushalmi and Muise argued in their briefs that this case represented the classic narrow exeption to the no-standing rule for tax payers and that the AIG buy out was sui generis and that at a minimum the complaint properly alleged a cause of action for a violation of the Establishment Clause. The court accepted plaintiff's arguments and dismissed the motion.