By: Derek Hawkins//June 17, 2020//
United States Supreme Court
Case Name: Monicah Okoba Opati, et al., v. Republican of Sudan, et al.,
Case No.: 17-1268
Focus: Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act – Damages
In 1998, al Qaeda operatives simultaneously detonated truck bombs outside the United States Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Hundreds died, thousands were injured. In time, victims and their family members sued the Republic of Sudan in federal court, alleging that it had assisted al Qaeda in perpetrating the attacks. After more than a decade of motions practice, intervening legislative amendments, and a trial, the plaintiffs proved Sudan’s role in the attacks and established their entitlement to compensatory and punitive damages. On appeal, however, Sudan argued, and the court agreed, that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act barred the punitive damages award. It is that decision we now review and, ultimately, vacate.
Vacated and remanded
Dissenting:
Concurring: