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1 1 (May 28, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdayx0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Supreme Court Permits Retroactive Punitive Damages Against Sudan in Terrorism Cases May 28, 2020 More than two decades after the U.S. embassies bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, some plaintiffs who alleged that Sudanese support of Al Qaeda contributed to the attacks have won the opportunity to obtain punitive damages against the government of Sudan. The Supreme Court decided 8-0 (with no participation by Justice Kavanaugh) in Opati . Repubc of Sudan that Congress intended to make punitive damages available on a retroactive basis when it updated the terrorism exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) in 2008. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (D.C. Circuit) had decided otherwise, invalidating $4.3 billion in punitive damages and halving the Opati plaintiffs' award for the embassy bombings. Under Opati, the D.C. Circuit is to reinstate some or all of those punitive damages. State-Sponsored Terrorism Exception to the FSIA Under the FSIA, foreign states are immune from jurisdiction in U.S. courts unless an exception exists. Congress amended the FSIA in 1996 to provide jurisdiction in any case in which an eligible plaintiff seeks money damages against a designated state sponsor of terTorism for personal injury or death that was caused by an act of torture, extrajudicial killing, aircraft sabotage, hostage taking, or the provision of material support or resources. The current terrorism exception, codified at 28 U,S.Co § 1605A, provides U.S. courts jurisdiction to hear claims against designated state sponsors of terrorism for similar conduct if the claimant or victim was, at the time the terrorist act occurred: (1) a U.S. national; (2) a member of the Armed Forces; or (3) otherwise an employee or contractor of the United States. The previous terrorism exception did not permit foreign national employees or contractors to bring claims, although foreign national family members of U.S. victims could bring claims, as could U.S. family members of foreign victims. Section 1605A(c) also created a new federal cause of action for injuries caused by acts of state-sponsored terrorism. Before enactment of section 1605A in 2008, the terrorism exception in the FSIA did not provide a separate cause of action and did not specify the types of damages available. Instead, plaintiffs had to assert causes of action based on some other source of law, primarily state or foreign law. The 1605A(c) cause of action is available for U.S. nationals, members of the U.S. Armed Forces, and contractors or employees of the U.S. government. Because the cause of action does not apply to foreign Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10481 CRS Leg Sideba Prepaed for Membeivs and Cornm ittees o4 Co q _gress --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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