WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UCI made the following statement: On August 11, 2023, the District of Columbia Superior Court (DCSC) issued an order vacating the last remaining unconstitutional restraints the Court had previously imposed on UCI in the case of The Family Federation for World Peace & Unification (FFWPU) International, et al. v. Hyun Jin Moon, et al. The DCSC lifted an injunction imposed in 2016 that barred UCI from carrying out its religious mission.
The order follows an August 2022 ruling by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals (DCCA) that found a lack of legal grounds for control of UCI by the plaintiffs, which include FFWPU, the Unification Church of Japan (UCJ) and the Universal Peace Federation (UPF); and an earlier order issued by the DCSC on June 15, 2023.
“The DCSC’s order,” said UCI General Counsel Nicholas Chiaia, “once again, finally and firmly establishes the baseless and unconstitutional nature of FFWPU’s lawsuit against UCI and Dr. Hyun Jin Moon.”
The August 2022 DCCA ruling was so definitive that plaintiffs’ counsel, at the time Miller & Chevalier, concluded the only way to continue litigating the matter was to bring its case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Yet, shortly after, Womble Bond Dickinson replaced Miller & Chevalier as FFWPU’s legal counsel and FFWPU continued advancing its meritless claims of a right to control UCI in the DCSC. Plaintiffs’ recent attempt to reopen discovery, based on purported newly discovered evidence prompted the DCSC to admonish FFWPU’s counsel and remind them of their ethical duties as officers of the court. The Court remarked that plaintiffs’ counsel should not knowingly “make a false statement of fact” nor “offer evidence that the lawyer knows to be false” to a tribunal. The latest order strongly echoes the DCSC’s observation in June that UCI’s request for court sanctions against FFWPU for its continued pursuit of its claims – though not granted – was “well taken.”
As Chiaia previously stated, “since 2008, various FFWPU leaders have engaged in baseless attacks against Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon and various Unification Movement-affiliated organizations through litigation and other means, forcing UCI to incur tens of millions of dollars in legal fees.” He added: “Now that the Court’s unconstitutional injunction prohibiting UCI from making donations has been lifted, this religious nonprofit has resumed its mission to advance UCI’s spiritual, humanitarian and philanthropic mission around the world.”
As a D.C. nonprofit corporation, UCI is one of many legally independent organizations inspired by the late Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, the founding charismatic, messianic leader of the worldwide Unification Movement. Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon succeeds Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon and has been advancing the Movement’s mission to promote worldwide unity and nurture God-centered families across all religions, races, ideologies, and nationalities.
For more information about Dr. Moon and his affiliated organizations, please visit: https://www.hyunjinmoon.com/.