Supreme Court limits corporate liability for alleged human rights abuses abroad

Key Points:

• The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to dismiss a lawsuit accusing Cisco Systems of aiding China's persecution of the Falun Gong, limiting the use of the Alien Tort Statute to hold U.S. corporations liable for human rights abuses abroad.
• Justice Amy Coney Barrett authored the majority opinion, stating that courts cannot create new rights of action for violations of international law, thereby rejecting corporate liability under "aiding and abetting" theories.
• The lawsuit alleged Cisco developed technology used in China's "Golden Shield" surveillance system to track and torture Falun Gong members, but the Supreme Court overturned a lower court's decision that had allowed the case to proceed.
• The ruling split the Court along ideological lines, with conservatives in the majority and liberals dissenting, and plaintiffs' lawyers urged Congress to enact legislation to hold corporations accountable for human rights abuses.
• In a related 8-1 decision, the Court also ruled that the Torture Victim Protection Act does not allow lawsuits against individual executives for aiding and abetting torture, further limiting legal recourse under U.S. law.