Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Org.

101 F.4th 190

Miriam FULD, individually, as personal representative and administrator of the Estate of Ari Yoel Fuld,

Deceased, and as natural guardian of plaintiff Natan Shai Fuld, Natan Shai Fuld, minor,by his next friend and Guardian Miriam Fuld, Naomi Fuld,Tamar Gila Fuld, and Eliezer Yakir Fuld, Plaintiffs - Appellants,UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Intervenor - Appellant, v. The PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION and The Palestinian Authority

(a/k/a "The Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority,"

and/or "The Palestinian Council,"

and/or "The Palestinian National Authority"), Defendants - Appellees.

Eva Waldman, Revital Bauer, individually and as natural guardian of Plaintiffs Yehonathon Bauer,

Binyamin Bauer, Daniel Bauer and Yehuda Bauer, Shaul Mandelkorn,

Nurit Mandelkorn, Oz Joseph Guetta, Minor,

by his next friend and guardian Varda Guetta, Varda Guetta, individually

and as natural guardian of plaintiff Oz Joseph Guetta, Norman Gritz,

individually and as personal representative of the Estate of David Gritz,

Mark I. Sokolow, individually and as a natural guardian of plaintiff

Jamie A. Sokolow, Rena M. Sokolow, individually and as a natural guardian of plaintiff

Jaime A. Sokolow, Jamie A. Sokolow, minor, by her next friends

and guardian Mark I. Sokolow and Rena M. Sokolow, Lauren M. Sokolow,

Elana R. Sokolow, Shayna Eileen Gould, Ronald Allan Gould,

Elise Janet Gould, Jessica Rine, Shmuel Waldman, Henna Novack Waldman,

Morris Waldman, Alan J. Bauer, individually and as natural

guardian of plaintiffs Yehonathon Bauer, Binyamin Bauer, Daniel Bauer

and Yehuda Bauer, Yehonathon Bauer, minor, by his next friend

and guardians Dr. Alan J. Bauer and Revital Bauer, Binyamin Bauer,

minor, by his next friend and guardians Dr. Alan J. Bauer and Revital Bauer,

Daniel Bauer, minor, by his next friend and guardians Dr. Alan J. Bauer

and Revital Bauer, Yehuda Bauer, minor, by his next friend

and Guardians Dr. Alan J. Bauer and Revital Bauer, Rabbi Leonard Mandelkorn,

Katherine Baker, individually and as personal representative of the Estate of Benjamin Blutstein,

Rebekah Blutstein, Richard Blutstein, individually and as personal

representative of the Estate of Benjamin Blutstein, Larry Carter,

individually and as personal representative of the Estate of Diane ("Dina") Carter,

Shaun Coffel, Dianne Coulter Miller, Robert L. Coulter, Jr., Robert L. Coulter, Sr.,

individually and as personal representative of the Estate of Janis Ruth Coulter, Chana Bracha Goldberg,

minor, by her next friend and guardian Karen Goldberg,

Eliezer Simcha Goldberg, minor, by her next friend and guardian Karen Goldberg,

Esther Zahava Goldberg, minor, by her next friend and guardian Karen Goldberg,

Karen Goldberg, individually, as personal representative of the Estate of Stuart Scott Goldberg/natural

guardian of plaintiffs Chana Bracha Goldberg, Esther Zahava Goldberg,

Yitzhak Shalom Goldberg, Shoshana Malka Goldberg, Eliezer Simcha Goldberg,

Yaakov Moshe Goldberg, Tzvi Yehoshua Goldberg,

Shoshana Malka Goldberg, minor, by her next friend and guardian Karen Goldberg,

Tzvi Yehoshua Goldberg, minor, by her next friend and guardian Karen Goldberg,

Yaakov Moshe Goldberg, minor, by her next friend and guardian Karen Goldberg,Yitzhak Shalom Goldberg, minor, by her next friend and guardian Karen Goldberg,Nevenka Gritz, sole heir of Norman Gritz, deceased, Plaintiffs - Appellants,UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Intervenor - Appellant, v. Palestine Liberation Organization, Palestinian Authority, aka Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority

and/or Palestinian Council and/or Palestinian National Authority, Defendants - Appellees,

Yasser Arafat, Marwin Bin Khatib Barghouti,

Ahmed Taleb Mustapha Barghouti, aka Al-Faransi,

Nasser Mahmoud Ahmed Aweis, Majid Al-Masri,

aka Abu Mojahed, Mahmoud Al-Titi, Mohammed Abdel Rahman Salam Masalah,

aka Abu Satkhah, Faras Sadak Mohammed Ghanem, aka Hitawi,

Mohammed Sami Ibrahim Abdullah, Estate of Said Ramadan, deceased,

Abdel Karim Ratab Yunis Aweis, Nasser Jamal Mousa Shawish, Toufik Tirawi, Hussein Al-Shaykh,

Sana'a Muhammed Shehadeh, Kaira Said Ali Sadi,

Estate of Mohammed Hashaika, deceased, Munzar Mahmoud Khalil Noor,

Estate of Wafa Idris, deceased, Estate of Mazan Faritach, deceased, Estate of Muhanad Abu Halawa,

deceased, John Does, 1-99, Hassan Abdel Rahman, Defendants.

Docket No. 22-76-cv (L)

Docket No. 22-496-cv (Con)

Docket No. 15-3135-cv (L)

Docket No. 15-3151-cv (XAP)

Docket No. 22-1060-cv (Con)

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit

May 10, 2024

For Plaintiffs-Appellants: Allon Kedem, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, Washington, D.C. (Kent A. Yalowitz, Avishai D. Don, David C. Russell, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, LLP, New York, NY, Dirk C. Phillips, Stephen K. Wirth, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, Washington, D.C., Jeffrey Fleischmann, The Law Office Of Jeffrey Fleischmann, P.C., New York, NY, Samuel Silverman, The Silverman Law Firm, PLLC, New City, NY, on the brief).

For Defendants-Appellees: Mitchell R. Berger, Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP, Washington, D.C. (Gassan A. Baloul, Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP, Washington, D.C., on the brief).

For Intervenor-Appellant: Benjamin H. Torrance, Assistant United States Attorney, Of Counsel for Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, New York, NY (Brian M. Boynton, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Sharon Swingle, Attorney, Appellate Staff, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., on the brief).

For Amicus Curiae Abraham D. Sofaer and Louis J. Freeh, in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants and Intervenor-Appellant: Tejinder Singh, Sparacino PLLC, Washington, D.C.

For Amici Curiae Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Rep. Claudia Tenney, Rep. Bradley E. Schneider, Sen. James Lankford, Sen. Marco Rubio, Rep. Kathleen Rice, Rep. Lee Zeldin, Rep. Theodore Deutch, and Rep. Grace Meng, in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants and Intervenor-Appellant: J. Carl Cecere, Cecere PC, Dallas, TX.

For Amici Curiae Constitutional Law Scholars Philip C. Bobbitt, Michael C. Dorf, and H. Jefferson Powell, in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants: Joshua E. Abraham, Abraham Esq. PLLC, New York, NY.

For Plaintiffs-Appellants: Kent A. Yalowitz, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, New York, NY (Avishai D. Don, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, LLP, New York, NY, Allon Kedem, Dirk C. Phillips, Stephen K. Wirth, Bailey M. Roe, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, Washington, D.C., on the brief).

For Defendants-Appellees: Mitchell R. Berger, Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP, Washington, D.C. (Gassan A. Baloul, Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP, Washington, D.C., on the brief).

For Intervenor-Appellant: Benjamin H. Torrance, Assistant United States Attorney, Of Counsel for Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, New York, NY (Brian M. Boynton, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Sharon Swingle, Attorney, Appellate Staff, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., on the brief).

For Amicus Curiae Abraham D. Sofaer and Louis J. Freeh, in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants and Intervenor-Appellant: Tejinder Singh, Sparacino PLLC, Washington, D.C.

For Amici Curiae Senators and Representatives Charles E. Grassley, Jerrold Nadler, Richard Blumenthal, James Lankford, Sheldon Whitehouse, Kathleen Rice, Bradley E. J. Carl Cecere, Cecere PC, Dallas, TX. Schneider, and Grace Meng, in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants and Intervenor-Appellant:

For Amici Curiae Constitutional Law Scholars Philip C. Bobbitt, Michael C. Dorf, and H. Jefferson Powell, in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants: Joshua E. Abraham, Abraham Esq. PLLC, New York, NY.

For Amici Curiae Providing Support to Victims of Terror, in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants: Dina Gielchinsky, Osen LLC, Hackensack, NJ.

For Amici Curiae American Association for Justice, in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants: Tad Thomas, Jeffrey R. White, American Association for Justice, Washington, D.C.

Present: DEBRA ANN LIVINGSTON, Chief Judge, RAYMOND J. LOHIER, JR., RICHARD J. SULLIVAN, JOSEPH F. BIANCO, MICHAEL H. PARK, WILLIAM J. NARDINI, STEVEN J. MENASHI, EUNICE C. LEE, BETH ROBINSON, MYRNA PÉREZ, SARAH A. L. MERRIAM, MARIA ARAÚJO KAHN Circuit Judges.

Joseph F. Bianco, Circuit Judge, concurs by opinion in the denial of rehearing en banc.

Steven J. Menashi, Circuit Judge, joined by Debra Ann Livingston, Chief Judge, Michael H. Park, Circuit Judge, and joined in Part I by Richard J. Sullivan, Circuit Judge, dissents by opinion from the denial of rehearing en banc.

Pierre N. Leval, Circuit Judge, filed a statement with respect to the denial of rehearing en banc.

Alison J. Nathan, Circuit Judge, took no part in the consideration or decision of the petition.

The above appeals are consolidated for the purposes of this order. Following disposition of the appeals in these cases on September 8, 2023, Plaintiffs-Appellants and Intervenor-Appellant filed petitions for rehearing en banc and an active judge of the Court thereafter requested a poll on whether to rehear the case en banc. A poll having been conducted and there being no majority favoring en banc review, the petition for rehearing en banc is hereby DENIED.

Joseph F. Bianco, Circuit Judge, concurring in the order denying rehearing en banc:

I concur in the denial of the petition for rehearing en banc and, as a member of the unanimous panel issuing the opinions that are the subject of the petition, write to explain my disagreement with the views expressed by the dissent.

As discussed in the panel opinions in these cases, and discussed in greater detail below, although these appeals involved the question of personal jurisdiction in the context of a novel statutory structure, the analysis in both opinions followed clear precedent from the Supreme Court and did not articulate any new legal rule. In contrast, the dissent proposes a new rule of "deemed consent" or "constructive consent" for purposes of personal jurisdiction, which has never been...