Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain
Citation: 542 U.S. 692 (2004)
Facts
Humberto Alvarez-Machain, a Mexican citizen, was abducted from Mexico by DEA-paid operatives and brought to the United States to stand trial. After acquittal, he sued under the ATS for arbitrary detention. Jose Sosa, one of the operatives, was a defendant. Alvarez-Machain argued that a single-day arbitrary detention violated international law.
Issue
Does the Alien Tort Statute create a cause of action, and if so, what norms of international law are actionable under it?
Holding
The ATS is a jurisdictional statute only but permits courts to recognize a narrow set of causes of action based on violations of well-established, specific, and universally accepted norms of international law. A brief, non-custodial detention did not rise to this level, so Alvarez-Machain’s claim failed.
Rule
Courts may recognize ATS causes of action only for violations of international norms that are: (1) specific, universal, and obligatory; (2) accepted by the civilized world; and (3) defined with sufficient definiteness. Courts should exercise great caution in recognizing new ATS causes of action beyond those historically cognizable at common law (piracy, safe conduct, ambassador immunity).
Significance
Sosa is the Supreme Court’s first direct ruling on ATS and established the restrictive standard for actionable international norms. It preserved ATS litigation but substantially narrowed it, and set the stage for Kiobel’s further restriction on extraterritorial application.