I reported here that the Supreme Court was considering whether to hear an appeal from a decision of the Second Circuit upholding the dismissal of a suit by the victims of 9/11, their families, and their insurers against the Saudi government and the individual Saudi princes who personally gave money to Muslim charities they knew would be funding al-Qaeda’s jihad against America. The Obama administration, I noted, had urged the Supreme Court not to take the case. The Circuit Courts of Appeals are divided on whether an exception exists to a 1976 law granting sovereign immunity to foreign countries for cases involving countries that sponsor terrorism.
Last week, the Supreme Court denied the petition to hear this case. It did so, as is normal in these circumstances, without comment.
As a result, the Saudi government and those institutions directly tied to it or to the royal family will not have to answer in U.S. court for aiding the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11. However, the suit can proceed against a number of Saudi financial institutions, charities and other groups.
Sean Carter, an attorney for the families, predicts that “the presentation of our evidence against those remaining defendants will lead directly back to government offices and royal palaces in Riyadh.”
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