About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

93 Va. L. Rev. Brief 1 (2007-2008)

handle is hein.journals/inbrf93 and id is 1 raw text is: VIRGINIA LAW REVIEW
IN BRIEF
VOLUME 93              MARCH 22,2007               PAGES 1-14
ESSAY
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS IN AMERICAN
COURTS
William A. Fletcher*
N 1984, in Tel-Oren v. Libyan Arab Republic, the United States
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed
the district court's dismissal of an international human rights case.
In the first sentence of his concurring opinion, Judge Edwards
wrote, This case deals with an area of the law that cries out for
clarification by the Supreme Court.' Twenty years later, the Su-
preme Court decided Sosa v. Alvarez-Macham. What, if anything,
has the Court clarified?
Judge Edwards referred to tort suits brought by aliens for viola-
tions of the law of nations under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS),
28 U.S.C. § 1350. The ATS originated as Section 9 of the Judiciary
Act of 1789. The modern text is little changed from the original. It
reads:
. Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; Richard W. Jennings,
Jr., Professor of Law, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
(Boalt Hall).
Tel-Oren v. Libyan Arab Republic, 726 F.2d 774, 775 (D.C. Cir. 1984) (Edwards,
J., concurring).
'542 U.S. 692 (2004).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most