User:Lauren2592/sandbox

My topic: Alien Tort Statute

The Supreme Court case Jesner v. Arab Bank was handed down last week. Someone put a detail into the webpage to say that the case has been decided, but there is no information provided about the details of the case or any commentary on its import. I will use Scotusblog and some other commentary to update this page.

http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/jesner-v-arab-bank-plc/

Corporate liability

In Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC, the Supreme Court again revisited the question of corporate liability and ruled that foreign corporations may not be sued under the ATS. However, the only parts of the opinion that commanded a majority of the court expressly limited its holding to suits against foreigncorporations. The concurring opinions by Justices Alito and Gorsuch focused on foreign relations concerns with foreign corporations. Justice Alito expressly limited his concurrence to foreign corporations: “Because this case involves a foreign corporation, we have no need to reach the question whether an alien may sue a United States corporation under the ATS." Because the majority opinion was limited to foreign corporations, it is possible that Jesner does not settle the question of corporate liability for U.S. corporations.

Move Jesner to prominent cases

On April 3, 2017, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC, which asks the question: "Whether the Alien Tort Statute... categorically forecloses corporate liability." The case arose when plaintiffs and their families were injured by terrorist attacks in the Middle East over a ten-year period. American nationals brought their claim under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 18 U. S. C. §2333(a), and foreign nationals brought their claim under the ATS. The plaintiffs alleged that Arab Bank helped finance terrorism by allowing Hamas and other terrorist groups to use bank accounts for terrorists and to pay the families of suicide bombers.

The District Court, following the Second Circuit decision in Kiobel that corporations are immune from liability under the ATS, dismissed the ATS suit. The Second Circuit, also adhering to Kiobel, affirmed.

On April 24, 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that foreign corporations may not be sued under the Alien Tort Statute. Justice Kennedy wrote for a splintered majority. In the majority opinion, the Court expressed its concern for foreign relations problems if the Court were to extend liability to foreign corporations. "For 13 years, this litigation has 'caused significant diplomatic tensions' with Jordan, a critical ally in one of the world’s most sensitive regions . . . These are the very foreign-relations tensions the First Congress sought to avoid." Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch concurred.

Justice Sotomayor wrote a 34-page dissent, arguing the decision "absolves corporations from responsibility under the ATS for conscience-shocking behavior." Immunizing corporations from liability "allows these entities to take advantage of the significant benefits of the corporate form and enjoy fundamental rights, see, e.g., Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm’n, 558 U. S. 310 (2010); Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 573 U. S. ___ (2014), without having to shoulder attendant fundamental responsibilities."