The U.S. Department of State recently filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the mother of Marc Fogel, a history teacher and Butler native who is imprisoned in Russia.

Fogel turned 63 behind bars this summer and has not been designated as wrongfully detained by the government, something his 95-year-old mother, Malphine Fogel, sought to challenge in June when she sued the State Department and Secretary Antony Blinken.

Marc Fogel was in his 10th and final year of teaching at the Anglo-American School of Moscow when he was arrested at Sheremetyevo International Airport in August 2021 for possessing less than an ounce of medical marijuana and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

His case has drawn comparisons to that of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was arrested in Russia on similar charges, designated as wrongfully detained and released in a prisoner swap after a 10-month imprisonment.

Marc’s family has been fighting for his release for more than three years. They have continuously called on the State Department to designate him as wrongfully detained. Sasha Phillips, the family’s lawyer, previously has argued Marc was targeted by the Russian government for being American, that his sentence is disproportionate to the crime and there is evidence he was set up by an informant.

The lawsuit urges Blinken to take action and review Fogel’s case under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act.

In addition, the suit alleges the Department of State’s report to Congress has misstated facts, indicating a failure to review his case, and the American government is treating him differently than other U.S. nationals who were imprisoned in Russia.

Under the Levinson Act, family members of wrongfully detained U.S. nationals receive consistent communication and information via Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs and congressional advocacy support. A number of nonprofit organizations also provide services such as financial advice or press communication pro bono or at a reduced rate to families of those who are wrongfully detained.

The designation would ease the financial burden on the family in advocating on his behalf, bolster advocacy efforts and grant him medical access.

On Friday, the State Department moved to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing Malphine Fogel is misinterpreting the Levinson Act, which provides guidance in determining whether someone is wrongfully detained.

“It does not give disappointed individuals a right to have federal courts second guess the State Department’s handling of these complex situations,” the government stated.

Thousands of Americans are detained oversees, including in Russia, according to the filing. The Department of State is asked to maintain neutrality in handling these cases, except in rare circumstances, such as when a wrongful designation status is determined, the government wrote.

“In recognition of foreign governments’ legitimate law enforcement and judicial processes, such assistance does not typically include advocacy for the release of detained individuals,” the filing reads.

“Ms. Fogel’s reading of the statute would dramatically alter that presumption and require the Secretary of State, in each of the thousands of detention cases in which the State Department provides assistance every year, to review within an arbitrary time frame, not established by Congress, and determine whether every single one of those detentions is ‘wrongful’ (with appeal and judicial review to follow),” the government wrote. “This would not be a reasonable use of the Secretary of State’s limited time and resources, and Congress did not intend to force the Secretary of State’s hands with respect to an area of foreign affairs involving such sensitive political and foreign policy implications.”

According to the government, the “facts and circumstances of a detention often change and evolve over time, a situation that lends itself to an ongoing review — but not a … mandatory determination within a particular time.”

The State Department also is not required to “notify Congress, family members or anyone else” about decision-making regarding wrongful detention determinations, the motion argued.

“Even if Ms. Fogel could succeed in her claim she’s entitled to certain types of procedural rights under the Levinson Act, it remains the case that the ultimate decision to make a wrongful detention determination is in the discretion of the Secretary of State, and that no resources can be made available under the statute absent such a determination,” the government said.

The government also argued Malphine Fogel’s lawsuit fails to prove her son’s case is being treated differently than those of other detained Americans.

The 21-page complaint claimed her son’s case was being treated differently than Griner. It also claims Fogel’s family has been treated differently by the Department of State.

“The State Department has repeatedly stated that obtaining Mr. Fogel’s release from Russian prison is a priority for the federal government,” the government wrote. “It has demanded Mr. Fogel’s release on humanitarian grounds, owing to his poor health. Most recently, in a news conference following the Aug. 1, 2024, prisoner exchange between the United States and the Russian Federation, the State Department explained that it “tr(ied) to secure his release as part of this deal and were unable to. But we continue to call for his release and we continue to work to secure his release.”

Phillips, as well as Marc Fogel’s sisters, have repeatedly stated in interviews that Russia does not have a history of releasing prisoners on the basis of humanitarian grounds.

“There is no dispute here that the State Department has done all that Ms. Fogel could ask for under the Levinson Act, even if she does not agree with the outcome,” the government stated.

Attorney Edward Phillips, who filed the lawsuit on Malphine Fogel’s behalf, disagrees.

“That is a very disputed fact,” he said.

“The State Department has not only not done what they could, (they have also) not done what they should do,” he said.

He said a review of Marc Fogel’s case, required under the Levinson Act, has not happened.

Edward Phillips said he spoke with government officials ahead of the filing, and the State Department’s move to dismiss the lawsuit “is a very common step for the defense to make” that was unsurprising.

He said he will be filing a brief opposing the State Department’s motion before Oct. 24, after which the defense will have five business days — subject to extensions — to file a reply.

The court will then issue an opinion, which may take several months, he said.