Tag Archives: Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act

SCOTUS For The Average Joe

Average Joe SCOTUS: Federal Republic of Germany v. Philipp

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For reasons I’ll never understand, SCOTUS has opted to listen to two separate cases about the same fucking thing.

In Republic of Hungary v. Simon, we heard about a case involving those evil bastards in the Nazi regime stealing Jewish-owned artwork, and the Hungarian government just letting it happen.

Well, this case asks the same question, but this time involves Germany “buying” artwork from some Jewish people in the Netherlands that they had purchased after the 1929 stock market crash. But when we say “buying” we mean demanding it be sold at well below market value.

So heirs of the dealers who were screwed by Germany back then are filing a claim in D.C. Germany, feeling they can handle it themselves, requested the case be dismissed so they can address it in Germany.

In a unanimous decision, SCOTUS decided that Germany can deal with their own shit, and it’s none of our fucking business. That this issue is not a matter of international law when Germany as a country takes shit from citizens of Germany. They also told Simon to get fucked, for similar reasons, in Republic of Hungary v. Simon.

Read about the case here at Oyez, or here at SCOTUS Blog

Libertarianism

Average Joe SCOTUS: Republic of Hungary v. Simon

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Bringing up some old WW2 shit, Rosalie Simon and company are survivors of the holocaust from Hungary. They sued Hungary in the US for damages incurred during the holocaust. Weirdly, they opted to sue here in the US, and not in Hungary, claiming that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) expropriation exception which reads:

A foreign state shall not be immune from the jurisdiction of courts of the United States or of the States in any case—in which rights in property taken in violation of international law are in issue and that property or any property exchanged for such property is present in the United States in connection with a commercial activity carried on in the United States by the foreign state; or that property or any property exchanged for such property is owned or operated by an agency or instrumentality of the foreign state and that agency or instrumentality is engaged in a commercial activity in the United States;
Basically saying that because these items were taken in violation of international law, they can be sued in our federal court. But the opposition argues that Hungarian courts should be given a crack at hearing this first, and they can’t just sue here in the US out of convenience.
The court enjoined this case with the Germany v. Philipp one, and kicked that shit back to Hungary, arguing this is basically none of our fucking business.
Read about the case here at Oyez