On Friday, the Supreme Court announced it would review a law that permits Americans injured in terrorist attacks to seek damages from Palestinian leadership groups in U.S. courts.
This law was amended by Congress in 2019 to allow victims’ lawsuits against the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to proceed, following previous court decisions that ruled the courts had no jurisdiction.
The key issue for consideration is whether this law infringes on the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause by compelling the Palestinian groups to accept the authority of federal courts.
Ari Fuld’s family advocates for accountability in landmark terrorism case
The justices decided to consolidate two cases, which include one appeal from the Justice Department and another from the family of Ari Fuld, an Israeli American who was fatally attacked at a West Bank shopping mall in 2018.
The Justice Department argues that Congress intended for the PA and PLO to be subject to U.S. civil lawsuits if they made payments to individuals linked to terrorist actions that harmed or killed Americans or maintained a significant presence in the U.S. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar contended that a lower court’s ruling against these conditions is based on a “rigid and misconceived application” of the law.
Prelogar emphasized that the due process ruling is flawed and undermines Congress’s determination that the law is crucial for advancing U.S. interests and protecting American citizens.
Fuld’s case has attracted bipartisan backing, with the House submitting a friend-of-the-court brief supported by leaders from both parties, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). Additionally, another bipartisan group of lawmakers filed an amicus brief in support.
The Biden administration has intervened in Fuld’s case and another lawsuit initiated two decades ago by 11 American families against Palestinian leadership groups for various attacks in Israel, which previously resulted in a $650 million judgment in 2015.
In response, the PA and PLO argue that the courts have consistently rejected the “bold positions staked out by” the government and other plaintiffs and that the Supreme Court should similarly refrain from doing so.
Gassan Baloul, a lawyer representing the Palestinian leadership groups, wrote that asserting jurisdiction based on the same constitutionally insufficient conduct would lead to a situation where “fiction overtakes fact and makes a mockery of the Due Process Clause.” The Supreme Court is expected to hear these cases during its current term, with a ruling anticipated by summer 2025.
