United States Ninth Circuit

Dismissal, on remand, of an action brought under the Torture Victims Protection Act (TVPA), the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), and California state law, alleging that defendant U.S. corporations were complicit in the bombing of a Colombian village by members of the Colombian Air Force, is affirmed, where: 1) plaintiffs lacked a viable claim under the TVPA because defendants were corporations rather than natural persons; 2) plaintiffs lacked a viable claim under the ATS because they did not rebut the presumption against extraterritorial application of the statute; and 3) in light of the strength of the U.S. government's interest in respecting Colombia's judicial process, the weakness of California's interest in the case, the strength of Colombia's interests in serving as an exclusive forum, and the adequacy of the Colombian courts, plaintiffs' state-law claims were nonjusticiable under the doctrine of international comity.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/12/2014
• Published 11/12/2014

Judges

• Bybee

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel