Case 1:15-cv-01046-PKC-JRC Document 152 Filed 04/23/18 Page 1 of 84 PageID #: <pageID> UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ZHANG Jingrong, ZHOU Yanhua, ZHANG MEMORANDUM AND ORDER Peng, ZHANG Cuiping, WEI Min, LO ON PLAINTIFFS’, Kitsuen, CAO, Lijun, HU Yang, GUO DEFENDANTS’, AND Xiaofang, GAO Jinying, CUI Lina, XU Ting, COURT’S MOTIONS FOR BIAN Hexiang, SUMMARY JUDGMENT Plaintiffs, 15-CV-1046 – against – Chinese Anti-Cult World Alliance (CACWA), Michael CHU, LI Huahong, WAN Hongjuan, ZHU Zirou, and DOES 1-5 Inclusive, Defendants. JACK B. WEINSTEIN, Senior United States District Judge Parties Appearances Zhang Jingrong, Terri Ellen Marsh Zhou Yanhua, Human Rights Law Foundation Zhang Peng, 1875 K Street NW Suite 400 Zhang Cuiping, Washington D.C. 20006 Wei Min, (202) 697-3858 Lo Kitsuen, Cao, Lijun, Joshua S. Moskovitz Hu Yang, Bernstein Clarke & Moskovitz Guo Xiaofang, PLLC Gao Jinying, 11 Park Place, Suite 914 Cui Lina, New York, New York 10007 Xu Ting, and (212) 321-0087 Bian Hexiang Jonathan C. Moore Keith M. Szczepanski Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP 99 Park Avenue, PH/26th Floor New York, New York 10016 (212) 490-0400 1 Case 1:15-cv-01046-PKC-JRC Document 152 Filed 04/23/18 Page 2 of 84 PageID #: <pageID> Chinese Anti-Cult World Tom M. Fini Alliance (CACWA), Jacques Catafago, Esq. Michael CHU, Catafago Fini LLP Li Huahong, The Empire State Building Zhu Zirou 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 7412 New York, NY 10118 212-239-9669 Edmond W. Wong, Esq. Law Office of Edmond W. Wong 35-10 Farrington Street Flushing, NY 11354 718-886-3188 Edmond W. Wong, Esq. Wan Hongjuan Law Office of Edmond W. Wong 35-10 Farrington Street Flushing, NY 11354 718-886-3188 Table of Contents I. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 4 A. Background .......................................................................................................................... 4 B. Motions and Claims ............................................................................................................. 7 II. Facts ....................................................................................................................................... 10 A. Falun Gong......................................................................................................................... 11 1. Background and Tenets .............................................................................................. 11 2. Expert Testimony ....................................................................................................... 12 B. Suppression of Falun Gong in China ................................................................................. 20 C. Conflict in Flushing New York ......................................................................................... 22 1. Plaintiffs’ Accounts .................................................................................................... 24 2. Defendants’ Accounts ................................................................................................. 28 2 Case 1:15-cv-01046-PKC-JRC Document 152 Filed 04/23/18 Page 3 of 84 PageID #: <pageID> D. Procedural History ............................................................................................................. 29 III. Law ........................................................................................................................................ 32 A. Summary Judgment Standard of Review ........................................................................... 32 B. Religion in American Law ................................................................................................. 33 1. Historical Account ...................................................................................................... 33 2. Current Approaches to Defining Religion .................................................................. 43 C. 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) ........................................................................................................... 46 1. Background on § 1985(3) Deprivation Clause ........................................................... 46 2. State Action under the Deprivation Clause ................................................................ 47 3. Elements of a Deprivation Clause Claim ................................................................... 51 4. Continuing Validity of Deprivation Clause Claims ................................................... 53 5. Hindrance Clause ........................................................................................................ 54 D. 18 U.S.C. § 248: Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act .......................................... 55 1. Text and Legislative History ...................................................................................... 55 2. Meaning of “A Place of Religious Worship” ............................................................. 56 E. New York Civil Rights Law .............................................................................................. 59 F. Assault and Battery ............................................................................................................ 60 G. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress ...................................................................... 61 H. Negligence ......................................................................................................................... 62 I. Public Nuisance ................................................................................................................. 62 J. Statute of Limitations: Continuing Violations Doctrine .................................................... 63 K. Counterclaim Timeliness ................................................................................................... 65 IV. Application of Facts to Law .................................................................................................. 66 A. Falun Gong Is a Religion in the United States for Purposes of this Litigation .................. 66 B. Statute of Limitations ......................................................................................................... 69 1. Plaintiffs’ Claims: Continuing Violations Doctrine ................................................... 69 2. Defendants’ Claims: Counterclaim Relation Back and Equitable Recoupment ........ 70 C. Plaintiffs’ Claims ............................................................................................................... 71 1. Assault and Battery ..................................................................................................... 71 2. New York Civil Rights Law ....................................................................................... 71 3. Deprivation Clause ..................................................................................................... 72 4. Hindrance Clause ........................................................................................................ 74 5. 18 U.S.C. § 248: Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act ................................... 75 6. Negligence .................................................................................................................. 76 3 Case 1:15-cv-01046-PKC-JRC Document 152 Filed 04/23/18 Page 4 of 84 PageID #: <pageID> 7. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress ............................................................... 76 8. Public Nuisance .......................................................................................................... 76 D. Defendants’ Counterclaims ................................................................................................ 77 1. Assault and Battery ..................................................................................................... 77 2. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress ............................................................... 78 3. Negligence .................................................................................................................. 78 4. New York Civil Rights Law ....................................................................................... 78 V. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 78 VI. Appendix A: Map of Sites of the Alleged Incidents ............................................................. 81 VII. Appendix B: Pictures of Sites of the Alleged Incidents ........................................................ 82 I. Introduction A. Background Plaintiffs are members of a group, Falun Gong, developed in the second half of the twentieth century in China. The People’s Republic of China (“Chinese Government”), it is alleged, has acted to suppress this group in both China and abroad, including in the United States; it deems it a threat to the hegemony of the Chinese State and Communist Party. See, e.g., Pitman B. Potter, Belief in Control: Regulation of Religion in China, 174 The China Q. 317, 323, 331-32 (2003); Fenggang Yang, The Red, Black, and Gray Markets of Religion in China, 47 The Soc. Q. 93, 110-13 (2006). Adherents of Falun Gong live in the United States. Some are citizens of this country. It is contended by them as plaintiffs that the Chinese Government has conspired with individuals to harm followers and suppress Falun Gong in the United States