The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday affirmed a law allowing American citizens or their relatives impacted by terrorist attacks abroad attributed to the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization to sue them in U.S. courts.
The 9-0 decision by the court ruled that the 2019 act, Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism, does not violate due process for the groups by requiring them to follow U.S. court rulings.
In 2022, New York-based U.S. District Court Judge Jesse Furman ruled that the act passed by Congress took away the Palestinian groups’ rights under the Fifth Amendment, and the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling.
The Supreme Court disagreed — plaintiffs should be able to sue such groups.
“It is permissible for the Federal Government to craft a narrow jurisdictional provision that ensures, as part of a broader foreign policy agenda, that Americans injured or killed by acts of terror have an adequate forum in which to vindicate their right to (Anti-Terrorism Act) compensation,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court.
In a second opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, wrote further on the boundaries of the Fifth Amendment.
“I am skeptical that entities such as the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) enjoy any constitutional rights at all, let alone qualify as “person(s)” for purposes of the Fifth Amendment."
What brought the case to the Supreme Court?
The case centered around two court cases where Americans attempted to sue the foreign entities. In 2004, a group of U.S. citizens filed a lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian Liberation Organization for injuries sustained in a terrorist attack in Israel, attempting to seek damages under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
“At trial, a jury found the defendants liable for six terror attacks and awarded $218.5 million in damages (automatically trebled to $655.5 million under the Anti-Terrorism Act), but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated this judgment in 2016, finding that U.S. courts lacked personal jurisdiction over the PLO and PA,” per Oyez.
The first case, centered around the death of Israeli-American citizen Ari Fuld, who was stabbed in the back by a 17-year-old in the West Bank whose family apparently received “Pay to slay” compensation by the Palestinian Authority for the killing.
According to The Times of Israel, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed an order ending legislation that gave “stipends to Palestinian security prisoners based on the length of their sentence” this year.
The second case involved 11 Americans representing those injured in a number of terrorist attacks in Israel between 2002 and 2004, winning more than $650 million in a 2015 trial.
In 2022, when the New York courts sided against the plaintiffs, President Joe Biden’s administration made efforts to appeal the decision, which the Trump administration then supported.