The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) () is a law enacted by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

that narrows the scope of the legal doctrine of foreign

sovereign immunity Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine whereby a sovereign or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution, strictly speaking in modern texts in its own courts. A similar, stronger ...

. It amends the

Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA) is a United States law, codified at Title 28, §§ 1330, 1332, 1391(f), 1441(d), and 1602–1611 of the United States Code, that established criteria as to whether a foreign sovereign nation ( ...

and the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act in regards to civil claims against a foreign state for injuries, death, or damages from an act of international

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

. Previously, U.S. citizens were permitted to sue a foreign state if such state was designated as a

state sponsor of terrorism State-sponsored terrorism is terrorist violence carried out with the active support of national governments provided to violent non-state actors. States can sponsor terrorist groups in several ways, including but not limited to funding terrorist ...

by the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

and if they were harmed by that state's aid for international terrorism. JASTA authorizes

federal courts Federal court may refer to: United States * Federal judiciary of the United States ** United States district court, a particular federal court Elsewhere * Federal Court of Australia * Federal courts of Brazil * Federal Court (Canada) * Federal co ...

to exercise

subject matter jurisdiction Subject-matter jurisdiction (also called jurisdiction ''ratione materiae')'' is the authority of a court to hear cases of a particular type or cases relating to a specific subject matter. For instance, bankruptcy court only has the authority ...

over any foreign state's support for acts of international terrorism against a U.S. national or property regardless of whether such state is designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. The bill passed the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

with no opposition in May 2016 and, in September 2016, was unanimously passed by the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. On September 28, 2016, both houses of Congress passed the bill into law after overriding a veto from President Obama which had occurred five days earlier. This was the only presidential veto override of Obama's administration. The practical effect of the legislation was to allow the continuation of a longstanding civil lawsuit brought by families of victims of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

for its government's alleged role in the attacks, though the law does not mention Saudi Arabia by name.

Congressional support and objections

The lead sponsors of the legislation in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

were

John Cornyn John Cornyn III ( ; born February 2, 1952) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Texas, a seat he has held since 2002. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the Senate majority whip for ...

, Republican of Texas, and

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...

, Democrat of New York. The bill was originally introduced in December 2009, and was last reintroduced to the Senate on September 16, 2015, and passed by the Senate on May 17, 2016, by a

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

. In the

, the bill's lead sponsors were Representative

Peter T. King Peter Thomas King (born April 5, 1944) is a former American politician who represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he represented a South Shore Long Island district that i ...

, Republican of New York, and Representative

Jerrold Nadler Jerrold Lewis Nadler (; born June 13, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician who since 2013 has served as the U.S. representative for , which includes Manhattan's west side and parts of Brooklyn. A member of the Democratic Party, he is in ...

, Democrat of New York; the legislation had more than 50 cosponsors. White House Press Secretary

Josh Earnest Joshua Ryan Henry Earnest
''

President Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

was very likely to utilize his power to veto, which he did on September 23, 2016. An override of the

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...

was considered likely, but not certain, because the original vote was passed by a voice vote not requiring individual lawmakers to record their positions. An override requires a recorded vote of the positions of all lawmakers. On September 28, 2016, the Senate voted to override the veto with 97 senators voting in favor, with

Senate Minority Leader The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding ...

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...

being the sole no vote and with Senators

Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine (; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virgini ...

and

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

not voting. The House followed suit later the same day, passing the bill into law over the president's objections by a 348–77 vote. The veto override was the only override during Obama's presidency.

Predicted impact

U.S.–Saudi Arabia relationship

The bill has raised tensions with Saudi Arabia. When the bill was introduced, the Saudi government "threatened" to sell up to $750 billion in

United States Treasury securities United States Treasury securities, also called Treasuries or Treasurys, are government debt instruments issued by the United States Department of the Treasury to finance government spending as an alternative to taxation. Since 2012, U.S. gov ...

and other U.S. assets if the bill is passed.Mark Mazzetti
Saudi Arabia Warns of Economic Fallout if Congress Passes 9/11 Bill
''New York Times'' (April 15, 2016). A number of independent economic analysts told the ''New York Times'' that Saudi Arabia would be unlikely to follow through on such threats, "saying that such a sell-off would be difficult to execute and would end up crippling the kingdom's economy". An official at Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the state-run Saudi Press Agency on September 29, 2016, that the U.S. Congress must correct the 9/11 bill to avoid "serious unintended consequences", adding the law is of "great concern" to the Kingdom.

Status of sovereign immunity

John B. Bellinger III, former

Legal Adviser of the Department of State The legal adviser of the Department of State is a position within the United States Department of State. It was created by an Act of Congress on February 23, 1931 (P.L. 71-715; 46 Stat. 1214). The legal adviser replaced the solicitor, a Departme ...

warned that the bill could encourage other countries to enact measures that limit sovereign immunity, including that of the United States. Law professor Curtis Bradley at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

told ABC News that the bill could result in U.S. citizen lawsuits against potentially any country. Bradley also said that it could lead to legal response in other countries against U.S. activities such as

drone strikes Drone warfare is a form of aerial warfare using unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, India, Pakis ...

and military aid to Israel. Government attorney

Joshua Claybourn Joshua Claybourn is an American attorney, author, and historian considered one of the foremost living scholars on Abraham Lincoln’s youth in Indiana. Career Legal work Claybourn is an attorney with the law firm of Jackson Kelly representing g ...

argued in ''

The American Spectator ''The American Spectator'' is a conservative American magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. It was founded in 1967 by Tyrrell, who remains its editor-i ...

'' that international sovereign immunity benefits the United States more than other nations due to significant U.S. foreign activity — diplomatic, economic, and military. Moreover, Claybourn noted America's "relatively deep pockets also make the United States a particularly attractive target". On September 30, 2016, the law went into effect when the first lawsuit was officially filed against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Stephanie Ross DeSimone alleged the kingdom provided material support to al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, in a complaint which was filed at a U.S. court in Washington, D.C. Her suit was also filed on behalf of the couple's daughter. DeSimone was two months pregnant when her husband,

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Patrick Dunn, was killed while working at

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

during the September 11 attacks. The new law was also expected to allow up to 9,000 plaintiffs from the New York area to sue Saudi Arabia as well. Soon after the law was passed, a group of lawyers stated that they expected that a federal judge would once again take up the cases originally filed in courtrooms across the U.S., but that several years ago were consolidated into one suit in the Southern District of New York.

Lawsuit against Saudi Arabia under JASTA

On March 20, 2017, 1,500 injured survivors and 850 family members of 9/11 victims filed a lawsuit against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Plaintiffs allege that the government of Saudi Arabia had prior knowledge that some of its officials and employees were al Qaeda operatives or sympathizers. The complaint alleged that Saudi Arabia "knowingly provided material support and resources to the al Qaeda terrorist organization and facilitating the September 11th Attacks". On March 2, 2020, the plaintiff in the lawsuit filed a letter stating that potential witnesses have received numerous threats. Saudi Arabia is seeking to obtain the identity of all witnesses to the case. http://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Letter-to-netburn.pdf

References

External links

Text of the Act

House Debate on September 11 Lawsuits
on

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

9/11 TERRORIST ATTACKS LAWSUIT
{{Saudi Arabia–United States relations Saudi Arabia–United States relations Terrorism in the United States Terrorism laws in the United States Acts of the 114th United States Congress Foreign sovereign immunity in the United States Aftermath of the September 11 attacks