US Supreme Court blocks Holocaust victims from suing Hungary in American courts

A group of Holocaust victims may not sue Hungary in American courts to recover property stolen during World War II because their funds were comingled with other funds, the Supreme Court ruled Friday in a long-running case about how much reach US courts should have to settle disputes abroad.

A group of Holocaust victims may not sue Hungary in American courts to recover property stolen during World War II because their funds were comingled with other funds, the Supreme Court ruled Friday in a long-running case about how much reach US courts should have to settle disputes abroad. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the opinion for a unanimous court. Sotomayor, quoting from a brief filed by the government, noted that “the moral imperative has been and continues to be to provide some measure of justice to the victims of the Holocaust, and to do so in their remaining lifetimes.” But, she added, respecting the limits on people suing foreign governments in US courts “aids in the United States’ efforts to persuade foreign nations to establish appropriate redress and compensation mechanisms for human-rights violations.” The court stressed that the victims might be able to bring their claims some other way, just not based strictly on the theory they relied on in this case. More than a dozen Holocaust victims and their families have been fighting the Republic of Hungary and its national railway for nearly 15 years over whether they may continue their lawsuit in federal court. Such lawsuits aimed at foreign governments are generally prohibited, but the victims wanted the Supreme Court to apply an exception to the rule in their case.