Roeder v. the Islamic Republic of Iran

• Citation: 742 F.Supp.2d 1
• Decision Date: 30 September 2010
• Docket Number: Civ. Action No. 08–487 (EGS).
• Parties: David M. ROEDER, et al., Plaintiffs,v.The ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

742 F.Supp.2d 1

David M. ROEDER, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.The ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, Defendant.

Civ. Action No. 08–487 (EGS).

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Sept. 30, 2010.

Daniel Levin, George J. Terwilliger, III, White & Case, LLP, Washington, DC, Terrance Gilroy Reed, Vernon Thomas Lankford, Lankford & Reed, PLLC, Alexandria, VA, for Plaintiffs.Lisa Ann Olson, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

EMMET G. SULLIVAN, District Judge.

This case represents the latest in a series of attempts by plaintiffs, who were taken hostage by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, to hold that country responsible for their tremendous suffering. Plaintiffs have attempted to sue Iran at various times since 1983, without success. See, e.g., Persinger v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 729 F.2d 835 (D.C.Cir.1984); McKeel v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 722 F.2d 582 (9th Cir.1983); Ledgerwood v. State of Iran, 617 F.Supp. 311 (D.D.C.1985). Plaintiffs again filed suit in this Court in 2000, in Roeder v. Islamic Republic of Iran, Civ. Action No. 00–3110(EGS) (hereinafter “ Roeder I ”). In April 2002, this Court dismissed plaintiffs' claims. See Roeder I, 195 F.Supp.2d 140 (D.D.C.2002). This Court held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”), as it existed in 2002, did not create a private right of action against the government of Iran and accordingly that plaintiffs could not pursue their claims against Iran. The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision in 2003. See Roeder v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 333 F.3d 228 (D.C.Cir.2003) (also referenced herein as Roeder I ).

In their previous cases, including Roeder I, plaintiffs have been thwarted by the Algiers Accords, the 1981 executive, bi-lateral agreement between the United States and Iran that secured the hostages' release. Both the Algiers Accords and its implementing regulations contain express prohibitions barring lawsuits arising out of the hostage taking. As this Court and the Court of Appeals explained in Roeder I, Congress has the authority to abrogate the Algiers Accords; however, it must act clearly and unambiguously to do so. See Roeder I, 195 F.Supp.2d at 168–170, aff'd 333 F.3d at 237–238. In Roeder I, this Circuit concluded that as of 2002 Congress had not acted clearly or unambiguously, and thus dismissed plaintiffs' claims. See 195 F.Supp.2d at 166; aff'd 333 F.3d at 238.

Now, several years later, plaintiffs have returned to this Court and filed the instant case (hereinafter “ Roeder II ”). Plaintiffs argue that in the years since Roeder I was decided, Congress has created a private right of action which enables them to proceed with a lawsuit against Iran. Specifically, they argue that by enacting the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, Congress has finally spoken clearly and unambiguously, and created a cause of action to enable them to sue Iran for damages. Compl. ¶ 20. The United States intervened and shortly thereafter filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that once again, Congress has failed to act with sufficient clarity to abrogate the Algiers Accords. This Court is thus confronted with the same fundamental question it faced in 2002: whether Congress has acted definitively to abrogate the Algiers Accords and enable plaintiffs to move forward in their suit for damages. With an equal measure of frustration, regret, and compassion the Court must conclude, once again, that Congress has failed to provide plaintiffs with a cause of action against Iran. Accordingly, this Court is not empowered to provide plaintiffs the relief they seek and the United States' motion to dismiss must be GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUNDA. Roeder I, and the State of the Law When it Was Decided

As set forth above, this Court does not write on a clean slate: this case, like Roeder I, rests squarely on whether Congress has abrogated the Algiers Accords. As explained in Roeder I, the Algiers Accords is an international executive agreement the United States entered into with the Islamic Republic of Iran on January 19, 1981, in order to obtain the freedom of the plaintiff hostages. Among other commitments contained in the agreement, the United States agreed to “bar and preclude the prosecution against Iran of any pending or future claim of ... a United States national arising out of the events ... related to (A) the seizure of the 52 United States nationals on November 4, 1979, [and] (B) their subsequent detention.” Declaration of the Government of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, ¶ 11 (reprinted at 20 I.L.M. 223, 227).

The Roeder I courts explained that a statute must satisfy one of two criteria to overturn a previously-enacted international agreement such as the Algiers Accords. First, if a later statute unambiguously conflicts with the international agreement on its face, the unambiguous later statute will prevail. See Roeder I, 195 F.Supp.2d at 170 (citing Reid v. Covert, 354 U.S. 1, 17, 77 S.Ct. 1222, 1 L.Ed.2d 1148 (1957); Whitney v. Robertson, 124 U.S. 190, 191, 8 S.Ct. 456, 31 L.Ed. 386 (1888); Committee of United States Citizens Living in Nicaragua v. Reagan, 859 F.2d 929, 936–37 (D.C.Cir.1988); South African Airways v. Dole, 817 F.2d 119, 126 (D.C.Cir.1987)). If the statute is ambiguous, however, a Court will not interpret it to modify or abrogate a treaty or executive agreement “unless such purpose of Congress has been clearly expressed.” Bennett v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 618 F.3d 19, 23–24 (D.C.Cir.2010) (quotation omitted, citing Roeder I, 333 F.3d at 237). As the Court of Appeals explained:

Executive agreements are essentially contracts between nations, and like contracts between individuals, executive agreements are expected to be honored by the parties. Congress (or the President acting alone) may abrogate an executive agreement, but legislation must be clear to ensure that Congress—and the President—have considered the consequences. The requirement of clear statement assures that the legislature has in fact faced, and intended to bring into issue, the critical matters involved in the judicial decision.

Roeder I, 333 F.3d at 238 (internal citation omitted).

Accordingly, in Roeder I, the courts determined that an Act of Congress will only abrogate the Algiers Accords' bar to the hostages' ability to sue if it (1) clearly and unambiguously gives the Court subject matter jurisdiction to hear plaintiffs' case, and (2) clearly and unambiguously creates a cause of action against Iran for the 1979 hostage taking. See Roeder I, 195 F.Supp.2d at 163, 167, aff'd 333 F.3d at 236–237. This Court found, and the D.C. Circuit affirmed, that when Roeder I was decided, Congress had provided the first, but not the second. The Roeder I courts' analysis of subject matter jurisdiction and private rights of action are briefly summarized in turn.

As a general matter, the FSIA grants foreign states immunity from liability in United States courts. Federal courts thus generally lack subject matter jurisdiction over claims against a foreign state. Congress has, however, provided several specific exceptions to this immunity. See 28 U.S.C. § 1604; see also Roeder I, 333 F.3d at 235. The Anti–Terrorism Act of 1996 created one such exception, and allowed jurisdiction over foreign states for certain state-sponsored acts of terrorism. See 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(7) (1996). Initially, the 1979 hostage-taking of the Roeder I plaintiffs did not fall within that exception; however, Congress amended the law in 2001 to specifically waive sovereign immunity for acts “related to Case Number 1:00CV03110(EGS) ¹ in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.” Pub.L. 107–77, 115 Stat. 748 (2001) (“Section 626(c)”). Thus, Section 626(c) amended the FSIA to remove sovereign immunity and create jurisdiction for any acts that related to Roeder I. See 195 F.Supp.2d at 163; aff'd 333 F.3d at 235. The Roeder I courts found that Congress had therefore clearly and unambiguously created subject matter jurisdiction for plaintiffs' claims to be heard in this Court.

The Roeder I courts next turned to the question of whether the 2001 amendments to the FSIA unambiguously created a cause of action for plaintiffs to sue Iran. The courts found that Congress had not unambiguously created such a cause of action. As this Court explained, while the exceptions to sovereign immunity “allowed federal courts to have jurisdiction over claims against foreign governments arising [out] of state sponsored terrorist activity .... [w]hat the [exceptions] did not do was create a private cause of action for the victims of state-sponsored terrorism. Like all the other exceptions to foreign sovereign immunity in the FSIA, victims of state-sponsored terrorism had to look to other laws to provide a cause of action against the foreign state.” Roeder I, 195 F.Supp.2d at 171 (citations omitted). When Roeder I was decided, the sole unambiguous private cause of action for victims of terrorism under federal law was conferred by the Flatow Amendment of 1996, 28 U.S.C. § 1605 note, which only provided “a private right of action against officials, employees and agents of a foreign state, not against the foreign state itself.” Cicippio–Puleo v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 353 F.3d 1024, 1033 (D.C.Cir.2004) (superseded by statute); see also In re: Islamic Republic of Iran Terrorism Litig., 659 F.Supp.2d 31, 46 (D.D.C.2009). The 2001 amendments to the FSIA did not clearly expand this cause of action.

As such, the courts found that the 2001 amendments to the FSIA were ambiguous. While it was possible to interpret the amendments as creating a new private right of action for plaintiffs, it was equally plausible to read the amendments to confer subject matter jurisdiction over the lawsuit but not to create a cause of action for plaintiffs to sue the state of Iran. See 195 F.Supp.2d at 171; aff'd 333 F.3d at 236. Because the Courts...