United States Second Circuit

In an action brought by Syrian-and-Canadian dual citizen plaintiff alleging he was mistreated by U.S. officials in the U.S. and removed to Syria with the knowledge or intention that Syrian authorities would interrogate him under torture, dismissal of the action is affirmed where: 1) the allegations set forth in plaintiff's complaint were sufficient, at this early stage of the litigation, to establish personal jurisdiction over defendants not resident in New York; but 2) plaintiff did not establish federal subject matter jurisdiction over his claim for declaratory relief; 3) plaintiff's allegations did not state a claim against defendants for damages under the Torture Victim Protection Act; and 4) in light of the determinations of Congress and applicable precedents, a cause of action for damages under the Fifth Amendment could not be judicially created for plaintiff pursuant to the Bivens doctrine. (Corrected opinion)

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/01/2008
• Published 08/01/2008

Judges

• Before JACOBS, Chief Judge, McLAUGHLIN, CALABRESI, CABRANES, POOLER, SACK,** SOTOMAYOR, PARKER,**RAGGI, WESLEY, HALL, and LIVINGSTON, Circuit Judges.  KATZMANN, Circuit Judge, took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• David Cole (Maria Couri LaHood, Jules Lobel, Katherine Gallagher, on the brief), Center for Constitutional Rights, New York, NY;  Joshua S. Sohn (on the brief), DLA Piper U.S. LLP, New York, NY, for Plaintiff-Appellant., Robin L. Goldfaden, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Immigrants' Rights Project, San Francisco, CA, for Amici Curiae American Civil Liberties Union and New York Civil Liberties Union in support of Plaintiff-Appellant., Burt Neuborne, New York, NY, for Amici Curiae Norman Dorsen, Helen Hershkoff, Frank Michelman, Burt Neuborne, and David L. Shapiro, in support of Plaintiff-Appellant., Michael B. De Leeuw, Dale E. Ho, Jonathan J. Smith, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, New York, NY, for Amicus Curiae NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. in support of Plaintiff-Appellant., Sidney S. Rosdeitcher, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, New York, NY, for Amici Curiae Retired Federal Judges in support of Plaintiff-Appellant., Nancy Morawetz, New York University School of Law, New York, NY, for Amici Curiae Law Professors in support of Plaintiff-Appellant., Alexander Yanos, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer U.S. LLP, New York, NY, for Amicus Curiae Redress Trust in support of Plaintiff-Appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Jonathan F. Cohn, Deputy Assistant Attorney General (Gregory G. Katsas, Assistant Attorney General;  Benton J. Campbell, United States Attorney;  Larry Lee Gregg, R. Joseph Sher, Dennis C. Barghaan, Assistant United States Attorneys;  Mary Hampton Mason, Jeremy S. Brumbelow, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Torts Branch;  Barbara L. Herwig, Robert M. Loeb, Michael Abate, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Appellate Staff, on the brief), for Defendant-Appellee John Ashcroft, the official capacity Defendants-Appellees, and the United States., Jeremy A. Lamken (John J. Cassidy, Jamie S. Kilberg, Paul J. Nathanson, on the brief), Baker Botts L.L.P., Washington D.C.;  Stephen L. Braga (on the brief), Ropes & Gray L.L.P., Washington D.C., for Defendant-Appellee Larry D. Thompson.