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U.S. State Dept. Rejects Request from Nigerian Government to Support Its Sovereign Immunity Defense in ATS and TVPA Case
Ten plaintiffs from the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have filed a federal lawsuit against 16 Nigerian officials for their complicity in the alleged extrajudicial killings of hundreds of its members who protested in the wake of arrest and detention of their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, in 2016. The lawsuit is grounded on the Alien […]
Man Sued in U.S. Court for Allegedly Leading Massacre that Killed 600 in Liberia in 1990
A federal lawsuit filed today under the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) accuses Moses W. Thomas — who allegedly was a commander of a specialized unit in the Liberian military — of directing an assault on St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in the Liberian capital of Monrovia in July 1990, during Liberia’s first civil war. The […]
Germany Finally Appears in Case Based on Colonial-Era Genocide in Namibia … And Promptly Moves to Dismiss
Between 1904 and 1907, the German Empire engaged in a campaign of racial extermination in German South West Africa, which today is the Republic of Namibia. Upwards of100,000 Herero people and 10,000 Nama people were exterminated by the Germans. It is considered the first genocide of the 20th century. In early 2017, members of the […]
2nd Circuit Vacates Verdict in ATA Case against Arab Bank Due to Improper Jury Instructions
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Friday reversed a 2014 verdict that found the Jordan-based Arab Bank liable under the Anti-Terrorism Act for three separate Hamas-associated attacks in Israel between 2002 and 2003. The court, in Linde v. Arab Bank, PLC, found that the jury instructions had incorrectly allowed for a guilty verdict […]
Serving Process at the Embassy in FSIA Cases…..Not So Fast, Says the Fourth Circuit
Under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), American citizens are permitted to sue the limited number of foreign states that the U.S. State Department has designated as “State Sponsors of Terrorism” in a United States court if the plaintiff’s injury was caused by the state’s support of a terrorist organization. But how do you get personal […]
Ameer Benno Presents Lawline’s Second Annual SCOTUS Preview!
Last week, Erica Dubno and I presented Lawline’s Second Annual SCOTUS Preview. We addressed the following critical cases that are to be decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in its 2018 Term: Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission Gill v. Whitford Class v. U.S. Jesner v. Arab Bank McCoy v. Louisiana Christie […]
Dismissal of Anti-Terrorism Act Lawsuit against Twitter is Affirmed by the Ninth Circuit … but not on Section 230 Immunity Grounds
On January 31, 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Fields v. Twitter, Inc. ruled unanimously to uphold a lower court’s dismissal of an Anti-Terrorism Act lawsuit that had been brought against Twitter after two American contractors were killed in Jordan in 2015 in an ISIS-related attack. The plaintiffs in the case — the families of […]
Which Are the Richest Terror Groups in the World?
(source: https://www/forbes.co.il/rating/list.aspx?en6v0tq=JH)
Phillipine Court of Appeals Refuses to Enforce $2 Billion Judgment Awarded by a U.S. Court in ATS and TVPA Case
The Court of Appeals of the Philippines has upheld its earlier decision against the enforcement of a Hawaii federal district court’s judgment granting Martial Law victims under the Marcos regime almost $2 billion in damages. In refusing to enforce the judgment, the Philippines appellate court held that the case, which was a class action suit […]
Chiquita Trial Set to Start in Colombian Terror Case Brought Under Anti-Terrorism Act
Trial is set to begin next month in the case of six Americans killed in the 1990s by the Columbian terrorist group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC. The plaintiffs are seeking to hold banana company Chiquita Brands International liable for the deaths because it allegedly paid the terrorist group about $288,000 over the course […]
