Alien Tort Statute
Jesner v. Arab Bank: The Supreme Court Should Not Miss the Opportunity to Clarify the “Touch and Concern” Test
In Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, the Supreme Court held that the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) is presumed not to apply to conduct on the territory of another country unless the plaintiff’s claims “touch and concern” the United States with sufficient force to overcome that presumption. For the last four years, plaintiffs, defendants and courts have struggled to define the contours of the Supreme Court’s cryptic “touch and concern” standard.