UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
L.C., a minor child, by and through her father MASSIMILIANO CALI,
MASSIMILIANO CALI,
Plaintiffs,
v.
DONALD J. TRUMP, et al.,
Defendants.
Civil Case No. 26-688 (RJL)
.......
MEMORANDUM OPINION
[May 13, 2026]
Plaintiffs L.C., a minor, and her father Massimiliano Cali bring suit against various federal defendants challenging the designation and sanctioning of Francesca Albanese, their mother and wife, respectively. Albanese is a scholar and author who has published widely on human rights issues, including on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Plaintiffs allege that defendants are sanctioning Albanese because of her speech—namely, Albanese's non-binding recommendation to the International Criminal Court to pursue war-crimes prosecutions against Israeli and American nationals. Plaintiffs...
1) This opinion appears to represent the first (and as of this writing only) example of a court enjoining or setting aside an OFAC SDN designation on the merits of a substantive claim (such as First Amendment or excess of statutory authority). Compare FAQ # 1190, in which OFAC says that “OFAC does not sanction persons for their engagement in activities subject to U.S. constitutional protection, such as protected speech or religious practice or for their religious beliefs; nor do U.S. persons violate OFAC sanctions for engaging in such constitutionally protected activity.” An important qualifier to this FAQ is that the question of what constitutes “activities subject to U.S. constitutional protection” can very much be in the eye of the beholder; in this case OFAC clearly thought that the actions for which Albanese was sanctioned did not qualify as “activities...