The 11th Circuit affirms decision involving the Alien Tort Statute in a case brought against the Palestinian Authority and the PLO.
"The [lower] court ruled that acts of terrorism were not cognizable under the ATS and, therefore, it had no subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to a terrorism theory. [Amergi] at *6, 7. Moving next to the Amergis’ theory that the killing violated the Geneva Conventions on the law of war and was cognizable under the Alien Tort Statute as a war crime, the court observed that not every violation of the Geneva Conventions supports ATS jurisdiction. Id. at *8. Moreover, the district court concluded, extending the ATS to cover this act, or any violation of the Geneva Conventions, would dramatically expand federal jurisdiction, in violation of the Supreme Court’s direction in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, 542 U.S. 692 (2004). See Saperstein, 2006 WL 3804718, at *8. It therefore dismissed the ATS count."
...
"The federal courts of the United States are permitted to recognize a limited set of causes of action for international wrongs under the ATS. Their ability to do so, however, is sharply circumscribed, both by precedent and by prudence. The Amergis urge this Court to recognize their claim under the ATS, but because the act they allege -- a single killing by non-state actors purportedly in the course of an armed conflict -- fails to meet the Alien Tort Statute’s high bar, we hold that the district court properly dismissed their ATS claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. We also hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over a common law wrongful death claim, or in severing the Amergis’ claims from that of Moshe Saperstein, a coplaintiff proceeding under the Federal Terrorism Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2333 (“FTA”). Accordingly, we affirm." More...
