ASG and Amata argue they "should thus be allowed to intervene"
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — “American Samoa’s democratically elected representatives have direct and substantial interests at stake that are not adequately represented by existing parties” in the US citizenship lawsuit before the federal court in Salt Lake City, Utah, according to the legal team, representing the Movants — the American Samoa Government and Congresswoman Aumua Amata — in the latest court filings.
The Movant also disagree with claims by the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that the ASG and the Congresswoman’s request to intervene in the lawsuit should be dismissed, because the motion is “procedurally defective.”
“It is truly remarkable — and very telling — that the plaintiffs... are trying to use procedural arguments to prevent the lawfully elected representatives of the people of American Samoa from participating fully in their lawsuit,” according to a statement to Samoa News over the weekend from the Washington D.C. based law firm of KIRKLAND & ELLIS LLP, which — along with the Utah based Manning Curtis Bradshaw & Brednar PLLC law firm — represents the Movants.
ASG and the Congresswoman “strongly believe that any change in the status of the people of American Samoa must respect the choices of individual Samoans and the self-determination and sovereignty of the American Samoan people,” the statement said.
Read more: http://www.samoanews.com/local-news/asg-and-amata-argue-they-should-thus-be-allowed-intervene