{"ID":63150,"name":"Opati v. Republic of Sudan","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/cases\/2019\/17-1268","view_count":0,"docket_number":"17-1268","additional_docket_numbers":null,"manner_of_jurisdiction":"Writ of \u003Ci\u003Ecertiorari\u003C\/i\u003E","first_party":"Monicah Okoba Opati, et al.","second_party":"Republic of Sudan, et al.","timeline":[{"event":"Granted","dates":[1561698000],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/54564"},{"event":"Argued","dates":[1582524000],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/54657"},null],"lower_court":{"ID":16,"name":"United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/taxonomy\/term\/16"},"facts_of_the_case":"\u003Cp\u003EIn 1998, truck bombs exploded outside the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing over 200 people and injuring over a thousand. It was later discovered that al Qaeda was behind these bombings and that Sudan allegedly provided material support to al Qaeda in the form of safe harbor and training.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EStarting in 2001, victims of the bombings began to bring lawsuits against Sudan and Iran in U.S. courts under a provision of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) that withdraws sovereign immunity and grants courts jurisdiction to hear suits against foreign states designated as sponsors of terrorism. When Sudan and Iran did not appear to defend these cases, the district court entered default judgments against them in several cases, including $4.3 billion in punitive damages. Sudan then appeared, filing appeals and motions to vacate the judgments. The district court denied Sudan\u2019s motions to vacate, and Sudan again appealed.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOn appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that FSIA does not permit the recovery of punitive damages arising from terrorist activities that occurred before Congress amended the law in 2008 to authorize punitive damages. The court pointed out that there is a strong presumption against retroactivity unless Congress made clear its intent. In Landgraf v. USI Film Products, 511 U.S. 244 (1994), the U.S. Supreme Court noted that retroactive authorization of punitive damages \u201cwould raise a serious constitutional question.\u201d Because the FSIA terrorism exception does not contain a clear statement of retroactive effect yet operates retroactively, the Tenth Circuit vacated the award of punitive damages under the federal cause of action.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","question":"\u003Cp\u003EDoes the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) apply retroactively to permit recovery of punitive damages against foreign states for terrorist activities that occurred prior to the passage of the current version of the statute?\u003C\/p\u003E\n","conclusion":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) applies retroactively to permit recovery of punitive damages against foreign states for terrorist activities that occurred prior to the passage of the current version of the statute. Justice Neil Gorsuch authored the unanimous (8-0) opinion of the Court.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECourts presume that legislation applies only prospectively, absent clear statutory language that it should apply to past conduct. FSIA contains such clear statutory language. Congress created in Section 1083(a) a federal cause of action that expressly allows suits for damages that \u201cmay include . . . punitive damages.\u201d Then, in Sections 1083(c)(2) and (c)(3), Congress allowed plaintiffs in prior actions and related actions to seek damages under that new federal cause of action. Together, there is no ambiguity that Congress intended that FSIA apply retroactively.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJustice Brett Kavanaugh took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","advocates":[{"advocate":{"ID":62679,"name":"Matthew D. 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