Supreme Court allows terrorist attack victims to sue Palestinian Authority

Driving the news: A 2019 law intended to facilitate lawsuits against the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization does not violate the Constitution, the Supreme Court found in their decision.

• "The Federal Government has an exceedingly compelling interest in providing a forum for American victims to hold accountable the perpetrators of acts of international terror that harm U.S. citizens," U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion.
• "We have also recognized the national government's interest in holding accountable those who perpetrate an 'act of violence against' US nationals—who, even when physically outside our borders, remain 'under the particular protection' of American law," he said.
• "So too the national government's corresponding authority to make 'the killing of an American abroad' punishable as a federal offense 'that can be prosecuted in (US) courts."

Context: A federal appeals court had reversed a verdict awarding victims of an attack $650 million under the Anti-Terrorism Act, citing violation of the Fifth Amendment.

• The law allows Americans to sue for damages caused by international terrorism.
• The appeals court ruled that it violates the right to due process of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization.