The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will consider upholding a law that would allow Americans injured in terrorist acts to sue the Palestinian leadership in U.S. courts for damages.
Congress amended the Federal Terrorism Act in 2019 to shift victims' cases to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), specifically in response to a series of court rulings that found the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) lacked jurisdiction. PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
At issue now is whether the law violates the Fifth Amendment's due process protections by forcing groups to consent to the authority of federal courts.
The justices agreed to consolidate one appeal by the Justice Department and two by the family of Ali Fuld, an Israeli-American who was stabbed to death in a West Bank shopping mall in 2018.
The Department of Justice says the PA and PLO will file a U.S. civil lawsuit if they pay terrorist representatives who harm or kill Americans or maintain a steady presence in the country. They claim that Congress has decided.
U.S. Attorney General Elizabeth Preloger told the justices that the lower court's determination that those conditions were not sufficient was based on a “draconian and misconceived application” of the law.
“That due process determination is inaccurate and undermines Congress' determination that this (law) is an important measure to advance U.S. interests and protect and compensate American citizens.” she wrote.
Fuld's lawsuit has bipartisan support. The House of Representatives submitted friend of the court brief It was approved by House leaders from both parties, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (New York). Another bipartisan group of lawmakers filed a court briefthe same way.
The Biden administration is pursuing Fuld's case and the 11 other Americans who originally sued the Palestinian leadership group over several attacks in Israel two decades ago and won more than $650 million in a 2015 lawsuit. Intervened in another lawsuit brought by a family.
The PA and PLO said the court never agreed with the “bold position” of the government and other plaintiffs, and the Supreme Court should not now.
“To now determine that a defendant 'consented' to jurisdiction based on the same constitutionally insufficient conduct, as the district court noted, 'prioritises fiction over fact and makes a mockery of the Due Process Clause.' ” Ghassan Baroul wrote. , a lawyer for the Palestinian leadership group.
These cases are scheduled to be heard during the Supreme Court's current term, with a decision likely to be rendered by summer 2025.
