SOURCE: The Post and Courier – March 23, 2017, Jennifer Berry Hawes | Read entire article
A judge has denied the federal government’s motion to dismiss a spate of wrongful death lawsuits brought by survivors and families of the nine people killed in the Emanuel AME Church shooting who argue the FBI was negligent in botching the gunman’s background check.
U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel ruled Thursday that several arguments in the case are “sufficiently plausible” to allow it to move forward. The U.S. Department of Justice had asked Gergel to dismiss the lawsuits on grounds that the court lacks the proper jurisdiction to hear them and that the plaintiffs failed to fully outline their claims.
The lawsuits, filed in June, allege the FBI failed to create and manage its background check database or perform a proper check of Roof. South Carolina is one of 36 states and territories that rely on that database to ensure gun sales comply with federal and state rules.