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[PDF] Esther Kiobel, et al. v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, et al. - Supplemental Brief of Amicus Curiae of Cato Institute in support of Respondents
Cato’s prior brief in this case established that this Court should interpret 28 U.S.C. § 1350 (the “Alien Tort Statute” or “ATS”) in accordance with the con-temporary understanding of the law of nations in 1789 when the statute was enacted. The jurisdictional grant of a statute is a fundamentally political decision and should not be amended by the courts. The law of nations as of 1789 provided a methodology for determining the parties that could be sued for violations of the law of nations (which did not include corporations), and it also provides a methodology for understanding the extraterritorial scope of the statute.