Legal Docket by CourtListener: Sherry Chen v. United States (1:19-cv-00045)
MSPB Decision: Sherry Chen is a "Victim of a Gross Injustice"
2018/08/15 Whistleblower Letter Complaint to DOC Inspector General
MSPB Decision: Sherry Chen is a "Victim of a Gross Injustice"
2018/08/15 Whistleblower Letter Complaint to DOC Inspector General
NBC Report: Sherry Chen Recounts Damage of Racial Profiling
On April 8, 2022, NBC News published a feaured story on Sherry Chen, an Asian American wrongfully profiled and accused of spying. "My lifetime of outstanding scientific work was destroyed. And my entire life was shattered," hydrologist Sherry Chen told NBC Asian America.
“I still struggle to sleep through the night because of the trauma inflicted by the government,” Chen said through tears. “My decades of service and contribution to the nation were entirely ignored and disappeared.” The “nightmare,” as Chen, 66, describes it, is not over.
She said she’s still on administrative leave from her job at the National Weather Service, and the ordeal has left her with indelible scars on her emotional well-being. But Chen says she’s still fighting.
Now, she’s speaking out alongside more than 1,000 organizations and individuals, including the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund and National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. They've signed a letter — shared first with NBC Asian American and sent to the Department of Commerce, which houses the Nationals Weather Service (NWS) — demanding a formal apology and Chen’s reinstatement.Chen, the only woman of color and only Asian American working at her Ohio-based NWS office at the time, said through it all she still aims to help dismantle the systemic racial profiling of Asian Americans across science and academia. “I hope that what happened to me will not happen to others. I deeply understand the detrimental impact the government’s wrongful prosecution can have on people’s lives and their family’s lives,” Chen said in an interview.
Links and References
2022/04/08 NBC News: Asian American wrongfully accused of spying recounts damage of racial profiling
2022/04/06 APA Justice: Joint Letter with 1,015 Organizational and Individual Co-signers to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo
“I still struggle to sleep through the night because of the trauma inflicted by the government,” Chen said through tears. “My decades of service and contribution to the nation were entirely ignored and disappeared.” The “nightmare,” as Chen, 66, describes it, is not over.
She said she’s still on administrative leave from her job at the National Weather Service, and the ordeal has left her with indelible scars on her emotional well-being. But Chen says she’s still fighting.
Now, she’s speaking out alongside more than 1,000 organizations and individuals, including the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund and National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. They've signed a letter — shared first with NBC Asian American and sent to the Department of Commerce, which houses the Nationals Weather Service (NWS) — demanding a formal apology and Chen’s reinstatement.Chen, the only woman of color and only Asian American working at her Ohio-based NWS office at the time, said through it all she still aims to help dismantle the systemic racial profiling of Asian Americans across science and academia. “I hope that what happened to me will not happen to others. I deeply understand the detrimental impact the government’s wrongful prosecution can have on people’s lives and their family’s lives,” Chen said in an interview.
Links and References
2022/04/08 NBC News: Asian American wrongfully accused of spying recounts damage of racial profiling
2022/04/06 APA Justice: Joint Letter with 1,015 Organizational and Individual Co-signers to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo
Gary Locke's 2018 Speech on Sherry Chen, Xiaoxing Xi, and Anti-Chinese Bias
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Courtesy of UCA and CLUSA
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On September 28, 2018, former Ambassador, Governor, and Secretary Gary Locke received the Lifetime Achievement Award from United Chinese Americans (UCA) in Washington DC. He gave a rousing, inpirational acceptance speech in which he mentioned the ordeals of Sherry Chen, Professor Xiaoxing Xi, and anti-Chinese bias.
The highly recommended excerpt is posted on YouTube and shared here: https://bit.ly/3Lor47j (video 3:45). Links and References 2018/10/12 北美新视界: 【美国华人大会专题二】骆家辉：一英里，走过一百年 |
ACLU Joins Lawsuit
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On November 9, 2021, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced that ACLU and Cooley LLP have joined Sherry Chen's lawsuit challenging
discriminatory investigation and malicious prosecution by a rogue security unit of the Department of Commerce. Axios published an exclusive report on the announcement. Hydrologist Sherry Chen's ordeal has spanned three presidential administrations and is adding to growing concerns about U.S. government profiling of Chinese American scientists. ACLU has also posted an administrative complaint against Departments of Commerce and Justice filed on November 1, 2021. |
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Cooley Leads Legal Team
During the October 5, 2021 APA Justice monthly meeting, John Hemann, Partner of Cooley LLP, announced that Cooley will be representing Sherry Chen along with the ACLU National Security Project, and attorneys Michele Young and Peter Toren. He commented that Michele Young and Peter Toren have done a fabulous job in carrying Sherry's torch through what must have been very dark and lonely days when it was just Sherry and them against the world. When Senator Wicker’s report came out, it became obvious that the torch that Sherry was carrying illuminated a problem that was far bigger than her case alone revealed, which brought Cooley and ACLU into the case. Read more about the announcement at https://bit.ly/3uZUO3k |
Department of Commerce Unit Was Rogue
On May 24, 2021, U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Committee), released a press statement and a fact sheet as a precursor to a Committee report detailing misconduct in the Investigations and Threat Management Service (ITMS) at the Department of Commerce (DOC). On September 3, 2021, DOC announced the elimination of ITMS but did not fully address the racial profiling issues including the Sherry Chen situation. Read more about the continuing developments at Department of Commerce |
Links and References
2022/04/03 北美新视界: UCA呼吁签署公开信声援陈霞芬
2022/03/08 俄州亚太联盟: 共和党领袖批评商务部滥用职权、错误打击华人科学家陈霞芬
2021/11/12 Nikkei Asia: Chinese American cleared of spying files new case against U.S.
2021/11/11 俄州亚太联盟: 陈霞芬状告美国政府最新进展：著名维权机构加入
2021/11/10 South China Morning Post: Lawyers add to damages suit for Chinese-American scientist Sherry Chen
2021/11/09 ACLU: Wrongly Prosecuted Chinese American Scientist Moves Forward With New Complaint Against Commerce Department
Axios: Exclusive: ACLU joins Chinese American scientist's lawsuit against U.S.
2021/11/01 ACLU: Sherry Chen Administrative Complaint Against Departments of Commerce and Justice
2021/10/05 APA Justice: October 2021 Monthly Meeting Summary
2022/04/03 北美新视界: UCA呼吁签署公开信声援陈霞芬
2022/03/08 俄州亚太联盟: 共和党领袖批评商务部滥用职权、错误打击华人科学家陈霞芬
2021/11/12 Nikkei Asia: Chinese American cleared of spying files new case against U.S.
2021/11/11 俄州亚太联盟: 陈霞芬状告美国政府最新进展：著名维权机构加入
2021/11/10 South China Morning Post: Lawyers add to damages suit for Chinese-American scientist Sherry Chen
2021/11/09 ACLU: Wrongly Prosecuted Chinese American Scientist Moves Forward With New Complaint Against Commerce Department
Axios: Exclusive: ACLU joins Chinese American scientist's lawsuit against U.S.
2021/11/01 ACLU: Sherry Chen Administrative Complaint Against Departments of Commerce and Justice
2021/10/05 APA Justice: October 2021 Monthly Meeting Summary
Statement by Attorney Steve Simon
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On May 4, 2020, Steve Simon representing Sherry Chen issued the following statement:
Last month marked the 2-year anniversary of Judge Schroeder’s 135-page decision (4/23/2018) in Sherry Chen’s Merit Systems Protection Board case. The judge ruled the Department of Commerce did not have cause to fire Sherry and blasted the agency for its scandalous conduct surrounding Sherry’s arrest in 2014 and termination in 2016. The agency regrettably filed an appeal that has languished before the MSPB Board in DC, which has lacked a quorum since January 2017. A decision may not come until 2021 or later. We hope the agency will stop the delay tactics and just drop the appeal altogether. |
2020年5月4日，史蒂夫·西蒙（Steve Simon）代表陈霞芬（Sherry Chen）发表以下声明：
上个月是功绩制度保护委员会（Merit System Protection Board, MSPB）施罗德法官对陈霞芬案发表长达135页的判决的两周年（4/23/2018）。法官裁定商务部没有理由解雇陈霞芬，并严厉批评该部门在2014年陈霞芬无辜被捕和2016年被解雇的丑陋行为。遗憾的是商务部向MSPB提出上诉，自2017年1月以来MSPB没有达到法定人数，司法公正一直被拖延至今。上诉决定可能要到2021年或更晚才可能做出。我们希望商务部停止拖延策略，放弃上诉。 |
A Victim of "Gross Injustice"Xiafen "Sherry" Chen is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Beijing, China. She is an award-winning hydrologist at the National Weather Service. After working for the Missouri State government for over 11 years, she joined the Ohio River Forecast Center (OHRFC) in Wilmington, Ohio.
Sherry Chen’s primary work was to develop river forecast models relating to the Ohio River and its tributaries. Floods are caused by uncontrollable, natural factors such as the amount of rainfall over a sustained period of time. Humans build locks, dams, and levees to minimize the impacts of flood. Mathematical models are developed and validated by data to help predict and measure the magnitude of floods to prevent the loss of lives and properties. Sherry Chen and her team received the 2011 National Weather Association Larry R. Johnson Special Award “for development of and operational success with the Ohio River Community HEC-RAS Model during May 2011 Ohio and Mississippi River flooding." Her work saves American lives and properties. However, an informant at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported Sherry Chen to the Office of Security, identifying Sherry as a "U.S. citizen, but a Chinese National" in 2012. Subsequently, the Department of Commerce (DOC) security agents submitted a misleading "Report of Investigation," which was later found to have concealed or altered important exculpatory evidence. Sherry Chen was arrested in her office in October 2014. She was charged with 4 counts, carrying a maximum of 25 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The charges were later doubled when Ms. Chen maintained her innocence and refused to make plea agreements. The U.S. government alleged that Sherry Chen accessed the National Inventory of Dams database without proper authority and lied to federal investigators. However, Sherry Chen had proper authority to access the database and was transparent with the investigators at all times. Sherry Chen never gave any proprietary information to anyone. Five months later, the government dropped all the charges against Sherry Chen in March 2015 without apology or explanation. Sherry Chen's case received national attention. Forty-eight Members of Congress, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Asian American community organizations, scientific organizations and government watchdogs raised concerns of racial profiling and called for a full investigation of the Departments of Justice and Commerce. Major media - including CBS’s 60 Minutes, Huffington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post - have also covered Sherry Chen’s case for more than three years. Asian Americans are concerned that in recent years, innocent Chinese American scientists in academia, government and private industry have been similarly charged with espionage-related crimes, and then seen those charges dropped or reduced to minor, unrelated infractions. Despite the dismissal of the criminal case, DOC proceeded to terminate Sherry Chen's employment in March 2016 instead of reinstating her to her position and reviewing the mistakes it made in the criminal case. Ms. Chen filed an appeal of the termination of her employment with the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). A hearing was held in Cincinnati, Ohio in March 2017 with dozens of individuals appearing in freezing temperature to show their support for Sherry Chen. After 13 months of deliberations, Judge Michele Szary Schroeder issued a 135-page blockbuster decision overwhelmingly in favor of Sherry Chen, agreeing that she was a victim of "gross injustice." In a point-by-point rebuttal, Judge Schroeder attributed the egregious conduct and corrupt actions by the top DOC officials to a potential combination of embarrassment, prejudice, and incompetence, and mishandled Sherry Chen's case at multiple levels of the department. On May 23, 2018, a "Stand with Sherry Chen" press conference was held on Capitol Hill. Sherry Chen expressed her determination to continue her quest for justice. Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), including Chair Rep. Judy Chu, and Representatives Ted Lieu, Grace Meng and Raja Krishnamoorthi, spoke on the need for justice and accountability in the Sherry Chen case. Dr. Xiaoxing Xi, physics professor at Temple University who was also wrongfully targeted for prosecution in a separate case, traveled from Philadelphia to lend his support. During the press conference, CAPAC released a letter signed by 31 members of Congress requesting the Commerce Inspector General to conduct an independent investigation into the mishandling of Ms. Chen’s case. Asian American community organizations also released a letter, signed by 132 national and local groups, calling on Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to reinstate Ms. Chen and facilitate the probe. Despite the calls from CAPAC and the community organizations, DOC filed an appeal to the MSPB decision on June 18. Sherry Chen and her attorney filed their rebuttal and cross appeals on August 3. Arguments for the appeal and cross appeal were completed on August 28, 2018. The appeal and the cross appeal are now pending in MSPB, which has lacked a quorum to process the appeals since January 2017. Three individuals were nominated by the White House in 2018, but were not confirmed by the Senate. There is reportedly a backlog of over 1,600 appeal cases in MSPB at this time. On January 18, 2019, Sherry Chen filed a civil lawsuit against the U.S. government for malicious prosecution and false arrest under the Federal Tort Claims Act. The case, 1:19-cv-00045-TSB, is pending in the U.S. District Court for Southern Ohio. Civil Lawsuit
Case 1:19-cv-00045-TSB: Xiafeng "Sherry" Chen vs Deborah Lee, Andrew Lieberman, Mike Benedict, Renee Desrosiers, and John and Jane Does of U.S. Government
2019/11/12 Reply in Support of Motion to Amend (80 pages) 2019/09/23 First Amended Complaint and Jury Demand (55 pages) Motion to Amend the Complaint (53 pages) CBS 60 Minutes
2018/08/26 CBS 60 Minutes: U.S. fight against Chinese espionage ensnares innocent Americans
2016/05/15 CBS 60 Minutes: Collateral Damage New York Times Editorial
2015/09/15 New York Times: The Rush to Find China’s Moles
For More Information
Visit the Sherry Chen Legal Defense Fund website to learn more about the Sherry Chen story since 2012.
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10 Years and Counting - Persecution of Sherry Chen
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Links and References
2020/02/20 Congressional letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray
2019/07/15 Inside Higher Ed: Attacking Chinese on Our Campuses Only Hurts America 2019/01/22 Sherry Chen Legal Defense Fund: Sherry Chen filed suit for malicious prosecution and false arrest against the government 2018/10/12 北美新视界: 【美国华人大会专题二】骆家辉：一英里，走过一百年 2018/08/15 Sherry Chen Legal Defense Fund. Complaint Number 18-0999 2018/06/18 United Chinese Americans: UCA Statement on DOC Appeal Decision Against Sherry Chen 2018/06/18 Sherry Chen: Statement in Response to Department of Commerce Filing Appeal 2018/06/08 Newsy: Falsely Accused Of Spying, These Americans Still Deal With The Impacts 2018/06/05 Sherry Chen Legal Defense Fund: Supplemental Requests to Department of Commerce Inspector General 2018/05/29 Committee of 100: Determined Sherry Chen Continues Quest for Justice 2018/05/23 Community Letter from 132 organizations to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross 2018/05/23 CAPAC: Joint Congressional letter by 31 Members to Department of Commerce Inspector General 2018/05/23 GovExec: Lawmakers Seek IG Probe of Commerce’s Handling of Scientist Accused of Spying 2018/05/17 New York Times: Cleared of Spying for China, She Still Doesn’t Have Her Job Back 2018/04/29 Wall Street Journal: Judge Orders Commerce Department to Reinstate Chinese-American Hydrologist 2018/04/23 MSPB: Xiafen Chen v Department of Commerce Initial Decision Docket Number CH-0752-17-0028-I-1 2017/04/17 APA Justice: Whistleblower Letter 2017/03/14 WCPO-9 ABC Cincinnati: Ohio scientist accused of spying wants her job back 2017/03/14 NBC News: Government Scientist Fired After Dropped Spying Charges Petitions for Reinstatement 2016/07/15 U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: Calling DOJ IG to Conduct Independent Investigation 2016/06/21 NCAPA: Coalition Letter Calling for DOJ IG Independent Investigation 2016/05/15 Wall Street Journal: Fired Worker Files Complaint After Spy Case Dropped 2016/05/14 Huffington Post: Racial Profiling: Doing Science While Asian American 2016/05/13 CAPAC: CAPAC Members Demand Independent Investigation Into Cases Targeting Asian Americans 2016/01/08 Online petition: We Want An Independent Investigation 2015/12/04 Delaware Congressional Delegation: Letter to the Attorney General 2015/11/23 U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: Letter to the Attorney General 2015/11/17 CAPAC: CAPAC Joins Wrongly Accused Asian American Scientists to Call for Accountability from DOJ and an End to Profiling 2015/11/16 NCAPA: 70+ Asian Pacific American, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Organizations Urge U.S. Attorney General to Investigate Possible Profiling of Asian American Scientists 2015/11/05 CAPAC: Joint Congressional letter by 42 members to Attorney General requesting Investigation into Wrongful Indictments Against Asian Americans for Alleged Espionage 2015/09/28 The Hill: Not all Chinese are economic spies 2015/09/22 Committee of 100: C100 Member Brian Sun Hosts Economic Espionage and Trade Secrets Seminar with Chinese American Scientists Xiaoxing Xi and Sherry Chen 2015/09/08 Committee of 100: C100 and Partners Issue Letter to the U.S. Attorney General 2015/09/04 Joint Community Letter to Attorney General in support of Congressional Inquiry on Profiling 2015/05/22 Committee of 100: The Committee of 100 Supports Congressional Inquiries Related to the Sherry Chen Case 2015/05/21 CAPAC: Joint Congressional letter by 22 Members to Attorney General 2015/05/12 Washington Post: Falsely accused of spying, Weather Service employee’s life turned upside down 2015/05/09 New York Times: Accused of Spying for China, Until She Wasn’t 2015/03/10 Wall Street Journal: Government Drops Charges Against Federal Employee |