Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran

• Decision Date: 21 February 2018
• Docket Number: No. 16–534.,16–534.
• Citation: 138 S.Ct. 816
• Parties: Jenny RUBIN, et al., Petitioners v. ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, et al.
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

138 S.Ct. 816

Jenny RUBIN, et al., Petitioners

v.ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, et al.

No. 16–534.

Supreme Court of the United States

Argued Dec. 4, 2017.

Decided Feb. 21, 2018.

Asher Perlin, Hollywood, FL, for Petitioners.

David A. Strauss, Chicago, IL, for Respondents.

Zachary D. Tripp, for the United States as amicus curiae, by special leave of the Court, supporting the respondents.

Matthew G. Allison, Baker & McKenzie LLP, David A. Strauss, Kimberly P. Taylor, Vice President and General Counsel, Theodore C. Stamatakos, Senior Associate General Counsel, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, for Respondent The University of Chicago.

Gerald P. Meyer, Michelle J. Parthum, MoloLamken LLP, Chicago, IL, Jeffrey A. Lamken, Robert K. Kry, William J. Cooper, MoloLamken LLP, Washington, DC, for Respondent Islamic Republic of Iran.

Justice SOTOMAYOR delivered the opinion of the Court.

The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA) grants foreign states and their agencies and instrumentalities immunity from suit in the United States (called jurisdictional immunity) and grants their property immunity from attachment and execution in satisfaction of judgments against them. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1604, 1609. But those grants of immunity are subject to exception.

Petitioners hold a judgment against respondent Islamic Republic of Iran pursuant to one such exception to jurisdictional immunity, which applies where the foreign state is designated as a state sponsor of terrorism and the claims arise out of acts of terrorism. See § 1605A. The issue presented in this case is whether certain property of Iran, specifically, a collection of antiquities owned by Iran but in the possession of respondent University of Chicago, is subject to attachment and execution by petitioners in satisfaction of that judgment. Petitioners contend that the property is stripped of its immunity by another provision of the FSIA, § 1610(g), which they maintain provides a blanket exception to the immunity typically afforded to the property of a foreign state where the party seeking to attach and execute holds a § 1605A judgment.

We disagree. Section 1610(g) serves to identify property that will be available for attachment and execution in satisfaction of a § 1605A judgment, but it does not in itself divest property of immunity. Rather, the provision's language "as provided in this section" shows that § 1610(g) operates only when the property at issue is exempt from immunity as provided elsewhere in § 1610. Petitioners cannot invoke § 1610(g) to attach and execute against the antiquities at issue here, which petitioners have not established are exempt from immunity under any other provision in § 1610.

I

A

On September 4, 1997, Hamas carried out three suicide bombings on a crowded pedestrian mall in Jerusalem, resulting in the deaths of 5 people and injuring nearly 200 others. Petitioners are United States citizens who were either wounded

in the attack or are the close relatives of those who were injured. In an attempt to recover for their harm, petitioners sued Iran in the District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that Iran was responsible for the bombing because it provided material support and training to Hamas. At the time of that action, Iran was subject to the jurisdiction of the federal courts pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(7) (1994 ed., Supp. II), which rescinded the immunity of foreign states designated as state sponsors of terrorism with respect to claims arising out of acts of terrorism. Iran did not appear in the action, and the District Court entered a default judgment in favor of petitioners in the amount of $71.5 million.¹

When Iran did not pay the judgment, petitioners brought this action in the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to attach and execute against certain Iranian assets located in the United States in satisfaction of their judgment. Those assets—a collection of approximately 30,000 clay tablets and fragments containing ancient writings, known as the Persepolis Collection—are in the possession of the University of Chicago, housed at its Oriental Institute. University archeologists recovered the artifacts during an excavation of the old city of Persepolis in the 1930's. In 1937, Iran loaned the collection to the Oriental Institute for research, translation, and cataloging.²

Petitioners maintained in the District Court, inter alia, that § 1610(g) of the FSIA renders the Persepolis Collection subject to attachment and execution. The District Court concluded otherwise and held that § 1610(g) does not deprive the Persepolis Collection of the immunity typically afforded the property of a foreign sovereign. The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed. 830 F.3d 470 (2016). As relevant, the Seventh Circuit held that the text of § 1610(g) demonstrates that the provision serves to identify the property of a foreign state or its agencies or instrumentalities that are subject to attachment and execution, but it does not in itself divest that property of immunity. The Court granted certiorari to resolve a split among the Courts of Appeals regarding the effect of § 1610(g).³ 582 U.S. ––––, 137 S.Ct. 2326, 198 L.Ed.2d 754 (2017). We agree with the conclusion of the Seventh Circuit, and therefore affirm.

B

We start with a brief review of the historical development of foreign sovereign immunity law and the statutory framework at issue here, as it provides a helpful guide to our decision. This Court consistently has recognized that foreign sovereign immunity "is a matter of grace and comity on the part of the United States." Verlinden B.V. v. Central Bank of Nigeria, 461 U.S. 480, 486, 103 S.Ct. 1962, 1967, 76 L.Ed.2d 81 (1983) ; Schooner Exchange v. McFaddon, 7 Cranch 116, 136, 3 L.Ed. 287 (1812). In determining whether to exercise jurisdiction over suits against foreign sovereigns, courts traditionally "deferred to the decisions of the political branches ... on whether to take jurisdiction over actions against foreign sovereigns." Verlinden, 461 U.S., at 486, 103 S.Ct. 1962.

Prior to 1952, the State Department generally held the position that foreign states enjoyed absolute immunity from all actions in the United States. See ibid. But, as foreign states became more involved in commercial activity in the United States, the State Department recognized that such participation "makes necessary a practice which will enable persons doing business with them to have their rights determined in the courts." J. Tate, Changed Policy Concerning the Granting of Sovereign Immunity to Foreign Governments, 26 Dept. State Bull. 984, 985 (1952). The Department began to follow the "restrictive" theory of foreign sovereign immunity in advising courts whether they should take jurisdiction in any given case. Immunity typically was afforded in cases involving a foreign sovereign's public acts, but not in "cases arising out of a foreign state's strictly commercial acts." Verlinden, 461 U.S., at 487, 103 S.Ct. 1962.

In 1976, Congress enacted the FSIA in an effort to codify this careful balance between respecting the immunity historically afforded to foreign sovereigns and holding them accountable, in certain circumstances, for their actions. 90 Stat. 2891, as amended, 28 U.S.C. § 1602 et seq. "For the most part, the Act" tracks "the restrictive theory of sovereign immunity." Verlinden, 461 U.S., at 488, 103 S.Ct. 1962. As a default, foreign states enjoy immunity "from the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States and of the States." § 1604. But this immunity is subject to certain express exceptions. For example, in line with the restrictive theory, a foreign sovereign will be stripped of jurisdictional immunity when a claim is based upon commercial activity it carried out in the United States. See, e.g., § 1605(a)(2). The FSIA also provides that a foreign state will be subject to suit when it is designated as a state sponsor of terrorism and damages are sought as a result of acts of terrorism. See § 1605A(a).

With respect to the immunity of property, the FSIA similarly provides as a default that "the property in the United States of a foreign state shall be immune from attachment arrest and execution." § 1609. But, again, there are exceptions, and § 1610 outlines the circumstances under which property will not be immune. See § 1610. For example, subsection (a) expressly provides that property "shall not be immune" from attachment and execution where, inter alia, it is "used for a commercial activity in the United States" and the "judgment relates to a claim for which the foreign state is not immune under section 1605A or section 1605(a)(7) (as such section was in effect on January 27, 2008), regardless of whether the property is or was involved with the act upon which the claim is based." § 1610(a)(7).

Prior to 2008, the FSIA did not address expressly under what circumstances, if any, the agencies or instrumentalities of a foreign state could be held liable for judgments against the state. Faced with that question in First Nat. City Bank v. Banco Para El Comercio Exterior de Cuba, 462 U.S. 611, 103 S.Ct. 2591, 77 L.Ed.2d 46 (1983) (Bancec ), this Court held that "government instrumentalities established as juridical entities distinct and independent from their sovereign should normally be treated as such." Id., at 626–627, 103 S.Ct. 2591. Thus, as a default, those agencies and instrumentalities of a foreign state were to be considered separate legal entities that cannot be held liable for acts of the foreign state. See id., at 628, 103 S.Ct. 2591.

Nevertheless, the Court recognized that such a stringent rule should not be without exceptions. The Court suggested that liability would be warranted, for example, "where a corporate entity is so extensively controlled by [the state] that a relationship of principal and agent is created," id., at 629, 103 S.Ct. 2591, or where recognizing the state and its agency or instrumentality as distinct entities ...