Samuel Estreicher is Dwight D. Opperman Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Labor and Employment Law, New York University School of Law.
On July 7, 2023, a panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Doe I v. Cisco Systems gave new life to the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), 28 U.S.C. §1350. Enacted in 1789, the ATS establishes federal court jurisdiction and (has been read to authorize within limits a federal action in damages for aliens injured by violations of the law of nations, now called customary international law (CIL), or violations of a treaty.
Sprung from longstanding dormancy by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Filartiga v. Pena-Irala, 630 F.2d 876 (1980), the ATS has become a major focus of human rights litigation seeking redress for injuries levied by torturers or other violators of international law norms.
