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The Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to uphold a 2019 law that allows American victims of terror attacks allegedly carried out by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to sue for damages in US courts.
What’s the deal: Since 2019, American victims of terrorist attacks and their families have pursued justice in US courts against the PA and PLO for their alleged roles in these attacks. Although 11 families initially won a $655.5 million judgment for attacks in Israel, the ruling was later overturned due to jurisdictional issues. In addition, the family of Ari Fuld, an Israeli-American who was fatally stabbed in 2018, had their lawsuit dismissed on similar grounds.
Why the hold-up?: The main hurdle preventing American terrorism victims from pursuing their lawsuits in federal courts is a legal challenge to a 2019 law intended to grant jurisdiction for such cases. Critics of the law argue that it violates the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause, which requires that defendants have sufficient ties to the US to be sued in its courts. A lower court agreed, with the judge stating, “The terror machine gun attacks and suicide bombings that triggered this suit and victimized these plaintiffs were unquestionably horrific. But the federal courts cannot exercise jurisdiction in a civil case beyond the limits prescribed by the due process clause of the Constitution, no matter how horrendous the underlying attacks or morally compelling the plaintiffs’ claims.”
Bipartisan support: In a rare show of unity, Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress issued a “friend-of-the-court brief” stating, “If this latest ruling is allowed to stand, American victims of international terrorism will be unlikely to get their day in court, and foreign terrorists will not need to worry about civil judgments draining their resources. Yet these are the exact policy objectives that Congress has consistently attempted to advance.”
Will they even get paid?: Enforcing a judgment against the Palestinian Authority or the Palestine Liberation Organization is extremely challenging. Even if US courts award damages to American victims, collecting from the PA or PLO is unlikely. These political entities have few (if any) assets in the US and might claim sovereign immunity or simply lack the funds.
