Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain
United States Supreme Court
542 U.S. 692 (2004)
Alvarez-Machain (plaintiff) was captured in Mexico by bounty hunter Sosa (defendant), acting as a U.S. agent, in an operation planned and directed by DEA agents in the United States, and was brought to the U.S. to stand trial for a DEA agent's murder before being acquitted; Alvarez then sued the United States for false arrest under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) and separately sued Sosa under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), alleging violations of international human rights instruments and customary international law. The district court granted Alvarez summary judgment and damages on the ATS claim while dismissing the FTCA claim, and the court of appeals affirmed the ATS ruling but reversed the FTCA dismissal; the Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether a claim under the Alien Tort Statute must be based on a universally recognized, specifically defined rule of international law capable of imposing obligations on international parties, and whether a plaintiff may sue the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act for tortious conduct planned and directed in the United States but carried out in a foreign country.