Marc Fogel’s family sues Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Department of State
Marc Fogel’s mother filed a lawsuit Tuesday in an attempt to compel the federal government to determine if her son is being wrongfully detained in a Russian prison.
Fogel, who grew up in Butler, taught English at the Anglo-American School of Moscow and was returning there in 2021 when a search of his bag turned up a small amount of medical marijuana he’d been prescribed for back pain. He was arrested, tried and sentenced to 14 years in prison for drug trafficking.
Through attorney Edward Phillips of Pittsburgh, Fogel’s mother Malphine Fogel filed the suit in federal court in Pittsburgh to obtain a court order requiring Secretary of State Antony Blinken to review her sons’ case under provisions of the Levinson Act and determine if there is credible information that he is being wrongfully detained.
Her daughter, and Marc’s sister, Lisa Highland said: “We don’t feel my brother has been treated fairly.”
The Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, known as the Levinson Act, establishes procedures to address the wrongful detainment of United States nationals abroad and to provide support for family members of the wrongfully detained, including providing consistent and accurate information to them, according to a summary of the suit.
The act lists 11 considerations intended for the secretary of state to use as a guide to determine if someone is wrongfully detained, and Marc Fogel’s case meets eight of those considerations, according to the suit.
The third consideration, which stipulates that the individual is being detained solely or substantially to influence U.S. government policy or to secure economic or political concessions from the U.S., is of particular importance in Marc Fogel’s case because his arrest and sentencing were part of Russia’s scheme to close the Anglo-American School of Moscow and provide Russia with leverage in future prisoner exchange negotiations, according to the suit.
In addition, the suit argues for equal protection based on the difference in how the department treated Brittney Griner and her family. Griner, a basketball player in the WNBA, was arrested in Russia and subsequently charged and convicted under the same articles of the Russian Criminal Code as Marc Fogel, designated as wrongfully detained, and returned home.
The suit goes on to assert a claim for lack of due process, arguing Blinken has failed to disclose to Marc Fogel or his family members any valid reason for not designating him as wrongfully detained under the Levinson Act. In doing so, Blinken has precluded any opportunity for Marc Fogel or his family members to exercise their due process rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, according to the suit.
The suit also has a claim under the Administrative Procedure Act because there is no rational connection between the facts and the determination that Fogel is not wrongfully detained.
