Update (June 23, 2025): In a unanimous 9–0 decision issued June 20, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Second Circuit’s holding that U.S. courts lacked authority to hear cases involving terrorist attacks abroad. The ruling upheld the constitutionality of the Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act (PSJVTA), allowing American victims of terrorism to pursue justice in U.S. courts. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the Court, emphasized that it is permissible for the federal government to ensure victims have access to a forum as part of a broader foreign policy agenda.
The case was successfully argued before the Court by lawyers from Arnold & Porter. Haynes Boone had previously joined Holtzman Vogel and several civil rights organizations in filing an amicus brief urging this outcome.
“While there is still nothing we can do to fully make these victims whole, we are grateful that this allows them to seek the legal recourse to which they are entitled,” Haynes Boone Associate Scott Whitman.
Original (Feb 10, 2025): Haynes Boone has joined a coalition of civil rights organizations in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Miriam Fuld, et al. v. Palestine Liberation Organization, et al., supporting the rights of American victims of terrorism to seek justice under the Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act (PSJVTA).
Haynes Boone Partner Craig Unterberg, Counsel Leel Sinai and Associate Scott Whitman filed the brief alongside lawyers from Holtzman Vogel on behalf of Agudath Israel of America, the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, StandWithUs, the American Jewish Committee, the Zionist Organization of America, the Anti-Defamation League, One Israel Fund, the National Jewish Advocacy Center, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, the Rieders Foundation, Christians United for Israel and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.
The brief supports the rights of American victims of terrorism in Israel and the West Bank to seek justice by being subject to the jurisdiction of U.S. courts. The brief urges the Court to uphold the PSJVTA and to reinstate the ability of victims to hold perpetrators accountable under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) in U.S. courts.
Congress previously passed these statutes, ensuring that perpetrators would be subject to jurisdiction in U.S. courts with bipartisan support, and the brief advocates for the upholding of those statutes.
