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Founded 37 years ago by Dr. Pasquale Nestico, Filitalia International has grown rapidly to become one of the largest and most influential Italian American organizations, boasting 28 chapters across the United States, Italy, Venezuela and Cuba. This impressive growth and success were celebrated this past weekend at its gala in Philadelphia.  COPOMIA...

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February 2024 Christopher Columbus' legal defense in American courts: thanks to George Bochetto

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Two bills that were advancing through the Massachusetts House and Senate, seeking to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, are now all but dead-on-arrival thanks to a viral petition spearheaded by affiliates of the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO).  COPOMIAO President Basil M. Russo, along wit...

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The people who paid for the Frank L. Rizzo sculpture removed from Center City in 2020 say they're close to having it returned, pending settlement of a long-running lawsuit. The bronze monument of Philadelphia's former mayor and police commissioner remains a divisive symbol, and its removal was among the most visible changes sparked by racial justic...

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The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on Friday overturned the dismissal of a lawsuit that was filed to block the planned removal of Pittsburgh’s Columbus statue, writing in a 24-page opinion that a lower court “erred” in its dismissal of the case in 2022. Philadelphia litigator George Bochetto filed the lawsuit, and subsequent appeal, on behalf of t...

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Many times we have described the historical and cultural reasons why attacks on Columbus are based on falsehoods, unacceptable and wrong. The Italian American comity is defending itself and the symbol it has chosen, in different ways. One of these ways is the legal way. Those who removed the Columbus statues and cancelled Columbus Day, not only obe...

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George Bochetto — the attorney representing Italian Sons and Daughters of America in its fight to block the removal of Pittsburgh’s Columbus statue — presented legal arguments to the judges of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania on Wednesday morning. ISDA’s legal position, in part, stems from a 1955 ordinance that permitted the statue’s construc...

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"No other Italian American organization has ever weighed in with the U.S. Supreme Court on a cultural issue or devoted so much time and resources to protecting the Italian heritage as has COPOMIAO under the visionary stewardship of Hon. Basil Russo; and the unwavering support of his distinguished peers, the 1492 Society and Philadelphia City Counci...

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Basil M. Russo remains resolute. The fight is onward. To the U.S. Supreme Court we go! The next battleground is the biggest. Judge Russo leads the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO). This past January, he and COPOMIAO made history when, through their youth committee, headed by John Viola and Patrick O’Boyle,...

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Joey Giardello wasn’t born with that name, but it’s the one that became famous. Well, famous enough to land him a statue on East Passyunk Avenue, and to bring standing prominent enough for a defamation suit over a Hollywood movie starring Denzel Washington. (The lawyer who got that suit settled, George Bochetto, has a connection to another statue:...

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