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    Joshua Ridenour SHINE, SC Page 1 of 25

    ATCA Reform - Neg

    ALIEN TORT CLAIMS ACT REFORM - NEG

    TOPICALITY RESOLVED .................................................................................................................3DEFINITION ............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .......... ....3

    INTERPRETATION .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ..... ..... .....3

    VIOLATION ............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. ....... ..... ..3STANDARDS .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... ........ ....3

    IMPACTS ............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ............. ..... ..3

    TOPICALITY ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY .................................................................................. 5STANDARDS .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... ........ ....5

    COUNTER DEFINITIONS .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. ....... ..... ..... ..... ......5

    REASONS TO PREFER THE COUNTER-DEFINITIONS .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. ...... ...... ...... ..5

    VIOLATIONS ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ......... ..5

    IMPACTS ............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ............. ..... ..6

    INHERENCY ...........................................................................................................................................71. Amlon Metals, Inc. v. FMC Corp..................................................................................................................................7

    2. Aguinda v. Texaco ..........................................................................................................................................................7

    3. Beanal v. Freeport McMoRan, Inc................................................................................................................................ 8

    4. Bano v. Union Carbide Corp .........................................................................................................................................95. Flores v. Southern Peru Copper Corporation ........................................................................................................... ....96. Sarei v. Rio Tinto plc .............................................................................................................................................. .....10

    7. Six most prominent environmental claims under the ATCA .................................................................................. ......11

    SOLVENCY ............................................................................................................................................12ATCA CASES UNDER ENVIRONMENTAL CLAIMS ............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ............. ..... ...... ...12

    1. Amlon Metals, Inc. v. FMC Corp. Dismissed, No universal norm ...........................................................................12

    2. Aguinda v. Texaco Dismissed, Procedural reasons ............................................................................................. .....12

    3. Beanal v. Freeport McMoRan, Inc. Dismissed, No universal international norm ...................................................14

    4. Bano v. Union Carbide Corp. Dismissed, Already litigated .................................................................. ..................15

    5. Flores v. Southern Peru Copper Corporation Dismissed, Rights arent universal ....................................... ...... .....15

    6. Sarei v. Rio Tinto plc Political sabotage, Establishes customary international law for claims ................... ...... .....16

    7. Six most prominent environmental claims under the ATCA ........................................................................................18

    8. Customary international law is the only basis for ATCA claims ..................................................................... ...... .....189. Right to life and health are too abstract to base a court claim on ..............................................................................18

    ATTITUDINAL BARRIER .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .......... .....19

    ................................................................................................................................................................. 19

    DA#1 - CORPORATIONS HURT ........................................................................................................20Link: Aff expands claims against Multinational Corporations (MNCs) .........................................................................20

    Brink: Multinational Corporations wrongfully targeted by plaintiffs .............................................................................20

    Impact: Innocent defendants pay a high price ................................................................................................................20

    DA #2 COUNTRIES HURT ...............................................................................................................22 Link: Jeopardized foreign investments ............................................................................................................................22

    Brink: No investment=industry shuts down, foreign companies leave ...........................................................................22 Impact: Stagnate 3rd world economies/more disease ................................................................................................ .....22

    DA #3 SOFT POWER ........................................................................................................................ 23Internal Link: ATCA lawsuits hinder foreign policy interest ............................................................................... ...... .....23

    Impact: Loss of soft power ............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ........... ...... ...... ...... ...23

    1. Without soft power the US loses leverage in international affairs ..............................................................................232. Soft Power is key to a lot of issues..............................................................................................................................24

    DA #4 RULE OF LAW ....................................................................................................................... 25Link: Aff. extends right of action for environmental damages under ATCA ..................................................................25Internal Link: Current interpretations twist the original nature/intent of the law ..........................................................25

    Impact: Rule of Law is key to stable society ...................................................................................................................25

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    ATCA Reform - NegAffirmative case should not matter to you, judges.

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    ATCA Reform - Neg

    TOPICALITY ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

    STANDARDS

    Precision Words have technical and exact meanings. Each word serves a purpose and definitions

    should be precise and accurate in order to determine what the resolution truly means.

    Field Contextualism Experts in the field have a greater knowledge of technical definitions and

    meanings, and therefore should be preferred.

    Bright Line Definitions should create a bright line for evaluating exactly what is and is not a

    legitimate interpretation of the resolution. Ambiguous definitions allow the Affirmative team to shift

    ground in the middle of the round. If the debaters do not clearly know the boundaries, argumentation isnecessarily restricted by time wasted in ambiguity.

    COUNTER DEFINITIONS

    Environmental Policy

    Dr. Natalia Mirovitskaya [editor] (PhD from the Russian Academy of Sciences in Economics andVisiting Professor of Environmental Policy at Duke University), and Dr. William L Ascher [editor]

    (PhD in Political Science from Yale and Professor of Government and Economics at Claremont

    McKenna College) 2001, The Guide to Environmental Policy and Sustainable Development, Duke

    University Press, p. 186 [Google Books]

    Environmental policy includes regulations to prohibit or limit pollution and resource depletion;

    incentives policies (including tax measures) to encourage environmental improvements to discourage

    pollution and depletion, and direct environmental efforts to clean up, protect, or restore ecosystems.

    Policy: A definite course or method of action selected from among alternatives and in light of givenconditions to guide and determine present and future decisions. (Merriam-Websters Online Dictionary

    2009 http://m-w.com/policy)

    REASONS TO PREFER THE COUNTER-DEFINITIONS

    1.The environmental policy definition is the only one in the round. Aff presented a definition of

    environmental law, not environmental policy. As we can see from our definition of policy a

    policy is not always a law.

    2.Our definition of environmental policy upholds the standards of field contextualism,

    precision, and it outlines exactly what an environmental policy would look like.

    VIOLATIONS

    1.Affirmative fails to create a regulation to prohibit or limit pollution and resource depletion or

    encourage environmental improvements to discourage pollution and depletion or advocate

    direct environmental efforts to clean up, protect, or restore ecosystems.

    http://m-w.com/policyhttp://m-w.com/policy
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    ATCA Reform - NegSecondly, the Affirmative plan does not fall under environmental policy because they are reforming a

    part of the Judiciary Act. The US Second Circuit Court of Appeal said the following in a Judgment

    delivered in September 2000 about application of the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victimsprotection Act:

    The Alien Tort Claims Act (ACTA) was adopted in 1789 as part of the original Judiciary Act. In its

    original form, it made no assertion about legal rights; it simply asserted that [t]he district courts shallhave original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the

    law of nations or a treaty of the United States For almost two centuries, the statute lay relatively

    dormant, supporting jurisdiction in only a handful of cases.As the result of increasing internationalconcern with human rights issues, however, litigants have recently begun to seek redress more

    frequently under the ATCA

    http://www.sangam.org/JANAKA/ATCA.htm

    This Alien Tort Claims Act is a judicial and human rights policy, not an environmental one. Reforming

    an act to address the environment does not make it environmental policy.

    IMPACTS

    i. Jurisdiction

    The judge has the option to vote for or against the resolution. If the case does not fall within the

    boundaries of the resolution, the judge does not have the jurisdiction to vote for it.

    ii. A priori

    Topicality is an a priori issue in the game of debate, you look to topicality first. If an affirmative team

    is operating outside the jurisdiction of the resolution, the only reasonable decision is a negative ballot.

    iii. Prima facie burden

    The Affirmative teams obligation is to present a case on its face that defends the truth of the resolution.

    Regardless of whether their plan is a good or bad idea, they have failed to uphold their prima facieburden if it does not mirror the terms of resolution.

    http://www.sangam.org/JANAKA/ATCA.htmhttp://www.sangam.org/JANAKA/ATCA.htm
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    INHERENCY

    [Note: Solvency and Inherency can be doubled into Significance, depending on the Aff case, and

    the Neg team using this brief]

    The Inherency part of this brief deals with the fact that cases can be brought into court on

    environmental claims, as long as they violate an international or universal standard.

    1. Amlon Metals, Inc. v. FMC Corp.

    Dr. Natalie L. Bridgeman(JD, Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law;

    Member, Human Rights Advocates; Member, National Lawyers Guild; Member, State Bar ofCalifornia; Trade, Environment, and Development Intern, Nautilus Institute; Law Clerk, NAFTA

    Arbitrator; Editor-in-Chief, UCLA School of Law Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs;

    Independent Consulting Attorney, International Human Rights Council; Executive Director,Accountability Counsel) Human Rights Litigation Under the ATCA as a Proxy for Environmental

    Claims 2003 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT LAW JOURNAL (Accessed via General

    OneFile Research Database)

    The first case to attempt to use the ATCA for environmental torts was Amlon Metals, Inc. v. FMC Corp.(95) The case involved a shipment of copper residue from the United States to England. When the

    materials arrived in England, the plaintiff realized that the substances were not merely copper residue,

    but hazardous waste, and refused to receive the shipment. The court looked to the U.S. environmentalstatute, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), (96) Principle 21 of the Stockholm

    Declaration (97) and the Third Restatement on Foreign Relations (98) as possible bases for finding a

    violation of customary international environmental law. (99) After dismissing RCRA as anunacceptable independent basis for a cause of action, (100) the court examined whether Principle 21

    and the Third Restatement reflected customary international law for the ATCA claim.

    Principle 21 asserts that states have a responsibility "to ensure that activities within their

    jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond thelimits of national jurisdiction." (101) The Restatement echoes this assertion and further states that if the

    activities have "caused significant injury" or risk of injury extraterritorially "the state of origin is

    obligated to accord to the person injured or exposed to such risk access to the same judicial oradministrative remedies as are available in similar circumstances to persons within the state." (102)

    Although Principle 21 and the Restatement were directly on point in Amlon, the court found that both

    sources failed to reflect binding sources of international law. The court found that Principle 21 was onlymeant as a guiding principle, and that the Restatement was too specific to the U.S., and therefore not a

    reflection of a universal norm. Because the plaintiff's case was based only on RCRA and Principle 21,

    neither of which were cognizable under the ATCA, it was dismissed. (103)

    Although Amlon demonstrated what is insufficient to allege environmental torts that violate the law of

    nations, it did not state what is sufficient to state such a claim. Amlon suggests that while internationalenvironmental treaties might be used as a basis for finding customary international law, it must be a

    treaty that delineates specific obligations on member nations--thus creating a universal, definable andobligatory norm.

    2. Aguinda v. Texaco

    Dr. Natalie L. Bridgeman(JD, Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law;Member, Human Rights Advocates; Member, National Lawyers Guild; Member, State Bar of

    California; Trade, Environment, and Development Intern, Nautilus Institute; Law Clerk, NAFTA

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    ATCA Reform - NegArbitrator; Editor-in-Chief, UCLA School of Law Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs;

    Independent Consulting Attorney, International Human Rights Council; Executive Director,Accountability Counsel) Human Rights Litigation Under the ATCA as a Proxy for Environmental

    Claims 2003 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT LAW JOURNAL (Accessed via General

    OneFile Research Database)

    In Aguinda v. Texaco (Aguinda I), (104) Ecuadorian plaintiffs sued Texaco for severe long-termcontamination and destruction of Ecuadorian tropical rain forests. (105) In addition, the complaint

    alleged harm to forest-dwelling indigenous peoples and destruction of their property and the stability of

    Amazon basin habitats. (106) As in Amlon, the largest hurdle in Aguinda I was alleging an internationalenvironmental law violation that is "definable, obligatory (rather than hortatory), and universally

    condemned." (107) When Aguinda I was brought in 1994, the most recent equivalent to Principle 21 of

    the Stockholm Declaration was Principle 2 of the Rio Declaration. (108) Aguinda I relied on Principle2, under which states have "the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control

    do not cause damage to the environment of other States or areas beyond the limits of national

    jurisdiction." (109) Judge Vincent L. Broderick also found persuasive the fact that U.S. domesticenvironmental law would have prohibited Texaco's conduct had it been in the United States. He stated

    that the U.S. laws are... relevant as confirming United States adherence to international

    commitments to control such wastes. This tends to support theappropriateness of permitting suit under 28 U.S.C. [section] 1350 if

    there were established misuse of hazardous waste of sufficient

    magnitude to amount to a violation of international law. (110)

    3. Beanal v. Freeport McMoRan, Inc.

    Dr. Natalie L. Bridgeman(JD, Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law;

    Member, Human Rights Advocates; Member, National Lawyers Guild; Member, State Bar of

    California; Trade, Environment, and Development Intern, Nautilus Institute; Law Clerk, NAFTA

    Arbitrator; Editor-in-Chief, UCLA School of Law Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs;Independent Consulting Attorney, International Human Rights Council; Executive Director,

    Accountability Counsel) Human Rights Litigation Under the ATCA as a Proxy for EnvironmentalClaims 2003 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT LAW JOURNAL (Accessed via General

    OneFile Research Database)

    As discussed above, in 1997, Beanal v. Freeport McMoRan, Inc. (125) was filed in the Fifth Circuit and

    concerned human rights violations and environmental torts conducted against the Amungme tribe ofIndonesia as a result of Freeport's mining operations there. (126) Like Aguinda, Beanal was dismissed,

    but not before substantial discussion of whether international environmental law has risen to the level

    of customary international law for ATCA purposes. From the outset, it would seem that Beanal was

    better positioned to survive a motion to dismiss than Aguinda because it involved environmental andhuman rights claims. Particularly because the human rights claims were related to the environmental

    harm, it would have seemed likely that even if the environmental claims were dismissed, some of thehuman rights claims--if successful-would remedy some of the same grievances as alleged in the

    environmental claims.

    In Beanal, the court considered whether "Freeport's alleged environmental practices [violated]the law of nations." (127) The environmental harms specifically alleged included:

    ... that defendant corporations have failed to engage in a zero

    waste policy, unacceptable enclosed waste management system,

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    ATCA Reform - Neghave failed to maximize environmental rehabilitation, have failed

    to engage in an appropriate acid leachate control policy, have

    failed to adequately monitor the destruction of the naturalresources of Irian Jaya and have disregarded and breached its

    international duty to protect one of the last great natural rain

    forests and alpine areas in the world. (128)

    Once again, the court found that these facts did not allege a violation of a "universal, definable, andobligatory" international norm. (129) The court did, however, cite dicta in Aguinda I for the proposition

    that Section "1350 may be applicable to international environmental torts." (130) The challenge in

    Beanal was that once the court reached the environmental claims, it had already concluded thatFreeport was not a state actor. Therefore, any environmental torts that had the potential to lead to

    Freeport's liability would have to have been recognized as one of the "handful of crimes" that are

    actionable for private as well as state actors.The Beanal plaintiffs relied on principles of international environmental law to support their

    environmental claims-namely, the Polluter Pays Principle; the Precautionary Principle; the Proximity

    Principle; the good-neighborliness principle and Principle 21 / Principle 2 from the Stockholm and RioDeclarations. (131) The court then ironically offered Philippe Sands' critique of these principles in

    support of why the plaintiffs failed to state a claim:

    4. Bano v. Union Carbide Corp

    Dr. Natalie L. Bridgeman(JD, Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law;Member, Human Rights Advocates; Member, National Lawyers Guild; Member, State Bar of

    California; Trade, Environment, and Development Intern, Nautilus Institute; Law Clerk, NAFTA

    Arbitrator; Editor-in-Chief, UCLA School of Law Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs;Independent Consulting Attorney, International Human Rights Council; Executive Director,

    Accountability Counsel) Human Rights Litigation Under the ATCA as a Proxy for Environmental

    Claims 2003 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT LAW JOURNAL (Accessed via General

    OneFile Research Database)

    In Bano, plaintiffs who suffered from the devastating 1984 chemical disaster in Bhopal, India sued

    Union Carbide Corporation for the tremendous loss of life and environmental harms associated with the

    accident. (136) Bano v. Union Carbide Corp., decided in November, 2001, dismissed the plaintiffs'environmental claims under the ATCA based on the theory that the claims "were fully litigated and

    settled in India," and therefore, did not reach the issue of whether the "complaint failed to allege a

    violation of well-established norms of international law as required under the ATCA." (137) This case

    was a lost opportunity for evaluating environmental principles as part of the law of nations because thefacts were a dramatic example of the link between human rights and the environment. Because the

    environmental pollution in Bano wiped out large segments of the local population, claims for human

    rights violations might have been successful and the damages may have worked to remedy the

    environmental harm.

    5. Flores v. Southern Peru Copper Corporation

    Dr. Natalie L. Bridgeman(JD, Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law;

    Member, Human Rights Advocates; Member, National Lawyers Guild; Member, State Bar ofCalifornia; Trade, Environment, and Development Intern, Nautilus Institute; Law Clerk, NAFTA

    Arbitrator; Editor-in-Chief, UCLA School of Law Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs;

    Independent Consulting Attorney, International Human Rights Council; Executive Director,Accountability Counsel) Human Rights Litigation Under the ATCA as a Proxy for Environmental

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    ATCA Reform - NegClaims 2003 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT LAW JOURNAL (Accessed via General

    OneFile Research Database)

    Flores is another case of plaintiffs alleging a mining corporation's violations of international

    environmental law. In Flores, eight Peruvian citizens claimed that the Southern Peru Copper

    Corporation's ("SPCC") mining operations in and around Ilo, Peru caused environmental pollution

    resulting in their asthma and lung disease, which "violated their rights to life, health, and sustainabledevelopment." (138)

    6. Sarei v. Rio Tinto plc

    Dr. Natalie L. Bridgeman(JD, Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law;Member, Human Rights Advocates; Member, National Lawyers Guild; Member, State Bar of

    California; Trade, Environment, and Development Intern, Nautilus Institute; Law Clerk, NAFTA

    Arbitrator; Editor-in-Chief, UCLA School of Law Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs;Independent Consulting Attorney, International Human Rights Council; Executive Director,

    Accountability Counsel) Human Rights Litigation Under the ATCA as a Proxy for Environmental

    Claims 2003 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT LAW JOURNAL (Accessed via General

    OneFile Research Database)

    Sarei v. Rio Tinto plc (141) addressed whether environmental torts may violate the law of nations under

    the ATCA, but in the end, the case has little precedential value because the entire case was dismissed

    based on the political question doctrine. (142) Despite its dismissal, Sarei contains important analysisof environmental claims under the ATCA. As discussed above, Sarei involves claims for redress of

    human rights and environmental torts by residents of the Papua New Guinea island of Bougainville

    against the British mining company Rio Tinto plc and the Australian corporation Rio Tinto Limited.

    The environmental harms alleged in Sarei are divided into two categories: (a) rights to life andhealth and (b) sustainable development and the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In

    the rights to life and health section of the decision, the plaintiffs rely on statements by an international

    law expert, (143) who in turn cites international and regional human rights conventions. (144) This isthe first ATCA case that has attempted to use such treaties to make an explicit appeal to 'environmental

    human rights.' It is a logical point at which to meld already accepted human rights norms with

    emerging environmental norms to create human rights and environmental protection under the ATCA.The plaintiffs argue, quoting an Inter-American Commission report "Conditions of severe

    environmental pollution, which may cause serious physical illness, impairment and suffering on the

    part of the local populace, are inconsistent with the right to be respected as a human being." (145) As

    further evidence of a human right to environmental protection, the plaintiffs invoke the famousGabcikovo Darn Case, where the International Court of Justice held that environmental protection is "a

    vital part of contemporary human rights doctrine, for it is a sine qua non for numerous human rights

    such as the right to health and the right to life itself." (146)

    Judge Morrow rejected plaintiffs' rights to life and health claims on the grounds that none ofthem were universal, definable and obligatory. (147) As she concluded in granting the motion to

    dismiss for the rights to health and life claims, "Courts addressing the issue have consistentlydetermined that allegations of environmental harm do not state a claim under the law of nations." (148)

    For reasons that parallel the analysis in the rights to life and health section, the Court granted

    the defendants' motion to dismiss the sustainable development claims. (149) The final environmentalclaim, but for the political question doctrine, would have survived the motion to dismiss. Judge

    Morrow found that "plaintiffs have adequately stated a claim for violation of the customary

    international law reflected in UNCLOS." (150)

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    7. Six most prominent environmental claims under the ATCA

    Dr. Natalie L. Bridgeman(JD, Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law;Member, Human Rights Advocates; Member, National Lawyers Guild; Member, State Bar of

    California; Trade, Environment, and Development Intern, Nautilus Institute; Law Clerk, NAFTA

    Arbitrator; Editor-in-Chief, UCLA School of Law Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs;Independent Consulting Attorney, International Human Rights Council; Executive Director,

    Accountability Counsel) Human Rights Litigation Under the ATCA as a Proxy for EnvironmentalClaims 2003 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT LAW JOURNAL (Accessed via General

    OneFile Research Database)

    As seen above, the ATCA provides plaintiffs with the best chances of success in suits against

    corporations for violations of the law of nations. However, compared to suits that allege human rights

    violations, success has not yet been borne out in claims alleging environmental torts in violation of thelaw of nations. Of the six main cases that have directly alleged environmental torts under the ATCA--

    Amlon, Aguinda, Beanal, Bano, Flores and Sarei--all had the environmental claims dismissed--either

    substantively or because of a procedural dismissal of all claims. In Amlon, the environmental claims

    alleged under Principle 21 of the Stockholm Declaration and the Third Restatement of Foreign

    Relations Law of the United States were dismissed for failure to establish a violation of the law ofnations. In Aguinda, Judge Broderick asserted that there may well have been a violation of the law of

    nations for the environmental torts alleged, but in the end, the appellate court dismissed the claims onthe grounds of forum non conveniens. In Beanal, after some discussion of whether the conduct alleged

    violated the environmental principles discussed by the plaintiffs, the court dismissed the action for

    failure to allege violation of a universal, definable and obligatory international norm. Bano neverreached the issue due to the court's determination that the claims had been settled in India. In Flores, as

    in Beanal, the court found that the environmental allegations were not violations of the law of nations.

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    SOLVENCY

    [Note: Solvency and Inherency can be doubled into Significance, depending on the Aff case, and

    the Neg team using this brief]

    ATCA CASES UNDER ENVIRONMENTAL CLAIMS

    1. Amlon Metals, Inc. v. FMC Corp. Dismissed, No universal norm

    Dr. Natalie L. Bridgeman(JD, Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law;

    Member, Human Rights Advocates; Member, National Lawyers Guild; Member, State Bar of

    California; Trade, Environment, and Development Intern, Nautilus Institute; Law Clerk, NAFTAArbitrator; Editor-in-Chief, UCLA School of Law Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs;

    Independent Consulting Attorney, International Human Rights Council; Executive Director,

    Accountability Counsel) Human Rights Litigation Under the ATCA as a Proxy for EnvironmentalClaims 2003 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT LAW JOURNAL (Accessed via General

    OneFile Research Database)

    The first case to attempt to use the ATCA for environmental torts was Amlon Metals, Inc. v. FMC Corp.

    (95) The case involved a shipment of copper residue from the United States to England. When thematerials arrived in England, the plaintiff realized that the substances were not merely copper residue,

    but hazardous waste, and refused to receive the shipment. The court looked to the U.S. environmental

    statute, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), (96) Principle 21 of the StockholmDeclaration (97) and the Third Restatement on Foreign Relations (98) as possible bases for finding a

    violation of customary international environmental law. (99) After dismissing RCRA as an

    unacceptable independent basis for a cause of action, (100) the court examined whether Principle 21and the Third Restatement reflected customary international law for the ATCA claim.

    Principle 21 asserts that states have a responsibility "to ensure that activities within their

    jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the

    limits of national jurisdiction." (101) The Restatement echoes this assertion and further states that if theactivities have "caused significant injury" or risk of injury extraterritorially "the state of origin is

    obligated to accord to the person injured or exposed to such risk access to the same judicial or

    administrative remedies as are available in similar circumstances to persons within the state." (102)Although Principle 21 and the Restatement were directly on point in Amlon, the court found that both

    sources failed to reflect binding sources of international law. The court found that Principle 21 was only

    meant as a guiding principle, and that the Restatement was too specific to the U.S., and therefore not areflection of a universal norm. Because the plaintiff's case was based only on RCRA and Principle 21,

    neither of which were cognizable under the ATCA, it was dismissed. (103)

    Although Amlon demonstrated what is insufficient to allege environmental torts that violate the law of

    nations, it did not state what is sufficient to state such a claim. Amlon suggests that while international

    environmental treaties might be used as a basis for finding customary international law, it must be atreaty that delineates specific obligations on member nations--thus creating a universal, definable and

    obligatory norm.

    2. Aguinda v. Texaco Dismissed, Procedural reasons

    Dr. Natalie L. Bridgeman(JD, Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law;

    Member, Human Rights Advocates; Member, National Lawyers Guild; Member, State Bar ofCalifornia; Trade, Environment, and Development Intern, Nautilus Institute; Law Clerk, NAFTA

    Arbitrator; Editor-in-Chief, UCLA School of Law Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs;

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    ATCA Reform - NegIndependent Consulting Attorney, International Human Rights Council; Executive Director,

    Accountability Counsel) Human Rights Litigation Under the ATCA as a Proxy for EnvironmentalClaims 2003 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT LAW JOURNAL (Accessed via General

    OneFile Research Database)

    In Aguinda v. Texaco (Aguinda I), (104) Ecuadorian plaintiffs sued Texaco for severe long-term

    contamination and destruction of Ecuadorian tropical rain forests. (105) In addition, the complaintalleged harm to forest-dwelling indigenous peoples and destruction of their property and the stability of

    Amazon basin habitats. (106) As in Amlon, the largest hurdle in Aguinda I was alleging an

    international environmental law violation that is "definable, obligatory (rather than hortatory), anduniversally condemned." (107) When Aguinda I was brought in 1994, the most recent equivalent to

    Principle 21 of the Stockholm Declaration was Principle 2 of the Rio Declaration. (108) Aguinda I

    relied on Principle 2, under which states have "the responsibility to ensure that activities within theirjurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or areas beyond the

    limits of national jurisdiction." (109) Judge Vincent L. Broderick also found persuasive the fact that

    U.S. domestic environmental law would have prohibited Texaco's conduct had it been in the UnitedStates. He stated that the U.S. laws are

    ... relevant as confirming United States adherence to internationalcommitments to control such wastes. This tends to support the

    appropriateness of permitting suit under 28 U.S.C. [section] 1350 ifthere were established misuse of hazardous waste of sufficient

    magnitude to amount to a violation of international law. (110)

    This statement was the closest any court had come to recognizing a violation of the law of nationsrooted in practice inconsistent with domestic environmental law that has an international "soft law"

    corollary. (111) Judge Broderick suggested that, if the hazardous waste "misuse" were large enough,

    plaintiffs could establish a violation of the law of nations sufficient to state a claim under the ATCA. Helimited the statement, however, by carving out "detailed statutes and regulations" for fear that if they

    became part of customary international law, they would supersede legislative intent of contrarily

    detailed statutes and regulations. (112) Further, he stated that steps "initiated or assisted in the UnitedStates" would be the most probative and would limit discovery along these lines. (113)

    Following Aguinda I, the case was dismissed on grounds of forum non conveniens (FNC),

    comity and failure to join an indispensable party. (114) On appeal, the Republic of Ecuador and the

    state-owned oil company Petoecuador's untimely motions to intervene in the case were denied. (115)Shortly thereafter, Jota v. Texaco (116) was filed and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the

    lower court's dismissal on FNC and comity grounds and partially reversed the lower court on the

    joinder issue. The Second Circuit remanded the case back to the hands of Judge Rakoff who orderedfurther briefing on the FNC and comity issues. (117) Following denial of a motion to disqualify Judge

    Rakoff for conflict of interest (118) and affirmation of the denial on appeal to the Second Circuit, (119)

    Judge Rakoff dismissed the case once again on the same grounds upon which the Second Circuit had

    earlier reversed Judge Rakoff-forum non conveniens. (120) Most recently, the appeal from JudgeRakoff's Aguinda VIII decision reached the Second Circuit who affirmed dismissal of the case on

    forum non conveniens grounds with a modification permitting the plaintiffs more time to re-file their

    actions in Ecuador. (121)In its eight-year history of litigation, the only decision that addressed whether a violation of

    international environmental law provides a cause of action under the ATCA was in dicta in the initial

    case, Aguinda I. (122) Even though the issue was never debated in further Aguinda appeals forprocedural reasons, it is unlikely that the case could have been affirmed on international environmental

    law grounds. As noted by Armin Rosencranz and Richard Campbell, "[l]ack of international consensus

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    ATCA Reform - Negon environmental norms is one reason why courts have been reluctant to recognize environmental

    abuses, absent accompanying human rights violations, as causes of action under the ATCA." (123)

    Nonetheless, Judge Broderick's dicta--which seemed to approve of Principle 2 of the Rio Declaration asat least a partial basis for the claim (124)--may serve, and has served, as a starting point for analysis of

    environmental claims in subsequent ATCA cases.

    3. Beanal v. Freeport McMoRan, Inc. Dismissed, No universal international normDr. Natalie L. Bridgeman(JD, Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law;Member, Human Rights Advocates; Member, National Lawyers Guild; Member, State Bar of

    California; Trade, Environment, and Development Intern, Nautilus Institute; Law Clerk, NAFTA

    Arbitrator; Editor-in-Chief, UCLA School of Law Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs;Independent Consulting Attorney, International Human Rights Council; Executive Director,

    Accountability Counsel) Human Rights Litigation Under the ATCA as a Proxy for Environmental

    Claims 2003 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT LAW JOURNAL (Accessed via GeneralOneFile Research Database)

    As discussed above, in 1997, Beanal v. Freeport McMoRan, Inc. (125) was filed in the Fifth Circuit and

    concerned human rights violations and environmental torts conducted against the Amungme tribe ofIndonesia as a result of Freeport's mining operations there. (126) Like Aguinda, Beanal was dismissed,but not before substantial discussion of whether international environmental law has risen to the level

    of customary international law for ATCA purposes. From the outset, it would seem that Beanal was

    better positioned to survive a motion to dismiss than Aguinda because it involved environmental andhuman rights claims. Particularly because the human rights claims were related to the environmental

    harm, it would have seemed likely that even if the environmental claims were dismissed, some of the

    human rights claims--if successful-would remedy some of the same grievances as alleged in the

    environmental claims.In Beanal, the court considered whether "Freeport's alleged environmental practices [violated]

    the law of nations." (127) The environmental harms specifically alleged included:

    ... that defendant corporations have failed to engage in a zerowaste policy, unacceptable enclosed waste management system,

    have failed to maximize environmental rehabilitation, have failed

    to engage in an appropriate acid leachate control policy, havefailed to adequately monitor the destruction of the natural

    resources of Irian Jaya and have disregarded and breached its

    international duty to protect one of the last great natural rain

    forests and alpine areas in the world. (128)Once again, the court found that these facts did not allege a violation of a "universal, definable, and

    obligatory" international norm. (129) The court did, however, cite dicta in Aguinda I for the proposition

    that Section "1350 may be applicable to international environmental torts." (130) The challenge in

    Beanal was that once the court reached the environmental claims, it had already concluded thatFreeport was not a state actor. Therefore, any environmental torts that had the potential to lead to

    Freeport's liability would have to have been recognized as one of the "handful of crimes" that areactionable for private as well as state actors.

    The Beanal plaintiffs relied on principles of international environmental law to support their

    environmental claims-namely, the Polluter Pays Principle; the Precautionary Principle; the ProximityPrinciple; the good-neighborliness principle and Principle 21 / Principle 2 from the Stockholm and Rio

    Declarations. (131) The court then ironically offered Philippe Sands' critique of these principles in

    support of why the plaintiffs failed to state a claim:

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    ATCA Reform - NegOf these general principles and rules only Principle 21 / Principle

    2 and the good neighborliness / international cooperation principle

    are sufficiently substantive at this time to be capable ofestablishing the basis of an international cause of action ... The

    status and effect of the others remains inconclusive, although they

    may bind as treaty obligations or, in limited circumstances, as

    customary obligations. (132)The court rejected Sands' notion that any of the alliterative principles formed the basis for an

    environmental cause of action under the ATCA. Instead, the court held that, "standing alone, [the

    principles] do not constitute international torts for which there is universal consensus in theinternational community as to their binding status and their content." (133) Finally, the court pointed

    out that the principles apply to states, not "nonstate corporations." (134) Because the principles only

    bind states, only state actors could violate them. Since the Freeport Corporation was not found to be astate actor, even principles binding on states would have failed to provide a cause of action for the

    plaintiffs in Beanal.

    As was the case in Amlon and Aguinda I, the Beanal court did not preclude environmental tortsfrom eventually becoming customary international law and thus actionable under the ATCA. (135) All

    three courts agreed, however, that at this stage in the development of international environmental law,the declarations, restatements and principles were not universal, definable and obligatory.

    4. Bano v. Union Carbide Corp. Dismissed, Already litigated

    Dr. Natalie L. Bridgeman(JD, Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law;

    Member, Human Rights Advocates; Member, National Lawyers Guild; Member, State Bar of

    California; Trade, Environment, and Development Intern, Nautilus Institute; Law Clerk, NAFTAArbitrator; Editor-in-Chief, UCLA School of Law Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs;

    Independent Consulting Attorney, International Human Rights Council; Executive Director,

    Accountability Counsel) Human Rights Litigation Under the ATCA as a Proxy for Environmental

    Claims 2003 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT LAW JOURNAL (Accessed via General

    OneFile Research Database)

    In Bano, plaintiffs who suffered from the devastating 1984 chemical disaster in Bhopal, India sued

    Union Carbide Corporation for the tremendous loss of life and environmental harms associated with theaccident. (136) Bano v. Union Carbide Corp., decided in November, 2001, dismissed the plaintiffs'

    environmental claims under the ATCA based on the theory that the claims "were fully litigated and

    settled in India," and therefore, did not reach the issue of whether the "complaint failed to allege a

    violation of well-established norms of international law as required under the ATCA." (137) This casewas a lost opportunity for evaluating environmental principles as part of the law of nations because the

    facts were a dramatic example of the link between human rights and the environment. Because the

    environmental pollution in Bano wiped out large segments of the local population, claims for human

    rights violations might have been successful and the damages may have worked to remedy theenvironmental harm.

    5. Flores v. Southern Peru Copper Corporation Dismissed, Rights arent universal

    Dr. Natalie L. Bridgeman(JD, Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law;Member, Human Rights Advocates; Member, National Lawyers Guild; Member, State Bar of

    California; Trade, Environment, and Development Intern, Nautilus Institute; Law Clerk, NAFTA

    Arbitrator; Editor-in-Chief, UCLA School of Law Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs;Independent Consulting Attorney, International Human Rights Council; Executive Director,

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    ATCA Reform - NegAccountability Counsel) Human Rights Litigation Under the ATCA as a Proxy for Environmental

    Claims 2003 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT LAW JOURNAL (Accessed via GeneralOneFile Research Database)

    Flores is another case of plaintiffs alleging a mining corporation's violations of international

    environmental law. In Flores, eight Peruvian citizens claimed that the Southern Peru Copper

    Corporation's ("SPCC") mining operations in and around Ilo, Peru caused environmental pollutionresulting in their asthma and lung disease, which "violated their rights to life, health, and sustainable

    development." (138)

    According to Judge Haight, the plaintiffs in Flores "attempt to distinguish the present case fromthose discussed above [Aguinda, Amlon and Beanal] by characterizing their claims as based on human

    rights law, rather than environmental law, and by pointing to the specific rights they invoke, i.e. the

    right to life, right to health, and right to sustainable development. But the labels plaintiffs affix to theirclaims cannot be determinative." (139) The plaintiffs in Flores fail to use human rights as a proxy for

    environmental claims (if they are indeed making this attempt as the court alleges) because they base

    their action on human rights claims that are not actionable under the ATCA.The Court concludes, "plaintiffs have not demonstrated that high levels of environmental

    pollution, causing harm to human life, health, and sustainable development within a nation's borders,violate any well-established rules of customary international law." (140) Flores thus holds that plaintiffs

    in the Southern District of New York must demonstrate that the environmental harm they allege istrans-boundary in nature. More significantly, Flores suggests that claims under international

    environmental law will not be successful when guised as human rights claims unless the human rights

    claims themselves are well-established as part of the "law of nations."In Flores, as in many of the cases above, the court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss

    because, according to Judge Haight, the rights to life, health, and sustainable development have not yet

    become non-derogable.

    6. Sarei v. Rio Tinto plc Political sabotage, Establishes customary international law for claims

    Dr. Natalie L. Bridgeman(JD, Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law;Member, Human Rights Advocates; Member, National Lawyers Guild; Member, State Bar of

    California; Trade, Environment, and Development Intern, Nautilus Institute; Law Clerk, NAFTAArbitrator; Editor-in-Chief, UCLA School of Law Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs;

    Independent Consulting Attorney, International Human Rights Council; Executive Director,

    Accountability Counsel) Human Rights Litigation Under the ATCA as a Proxy for EnvironmentalClaims 2003 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT LAW JOURNAL (Accessed via General

    OneFile Research Database)

    Sarei v. Rio Tinto plc (141) addressed whether environmental torts may violate the law of nations under

    the ATCA, but in the end, the case has little precedential value because the entire case was dismissed

    based on the political question doctrine. (142) Despite its dismissal, Sarei contains important analysisof environmental claims under the ATCA. As discussed above, Sarei involves claims for redress of

    human rights and environmental torts by residents of the Papua New Guinea island of Bougainvilleagainst the British mining company Rio Tinto plc and the Australian corporation Rio Tinto Limited.

    The environmental harms alleged in Sarei are divided into two categories: (a) rights to life and

    health and (b) sustainable development and the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Inthe rights to life and health section of the decision, the plaintiffs rely on statements by an international

    law expert, (143) who in turn cites international and regional human rights conventions. (144) This is

    the first ATCA case that has attempted to use such treaties to make an explicit appeal to 'environmental

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    ATCA Reform - Neg

    7. Six most prominent environmental claims under the ATCA

    Dr. Natalie L. Bridgeman(JD, Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law;Member, Human Rights Advocates; Member, National Lawyers Guild; Member, State Bar of

    California; Trade, Environment, and Development Intern, Nautilus Institute; Law Clerk, NAFTA

    Arbitrator; Editor-in-Chief, UCLA School of Law Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs;Independent Consulting Attorney, International Human Rights Council; Executive Director,

    Accountability Counsel) Human Rights Litigation Under the ATCA as a Proxy for EnvironmentalClaims 2003 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT LAW JOURNAL (Accessed via General

    OneFile Research Database)

    As seen above, the ATCA provides plaintiffs with the best chances of success in suits against

    corporations for violations of the law of nations. However, compared to suits that allege human rights

    violations, success has not yet been borne out in claims alleging environmental torts in violation of thelaw of nations. Of the six main cases that have directly alleged environmental torts under the ATCA--

    Amlon, Aguinda, Beanal, Bano, Flores and Sarei--all had the environmental claims dismissed--either

    substantively or because of a procedural dismissal of all claims. In Amlon, the environmental claims

    alleged under Principle 21 of the Stockholm Declaration and the Third Restatement of Foreign

    Relations Law of the United States were dismissed for failure to establish a violation of the law ofnations. In Aguinda, Judge Broderick asserted that there may well have been a violation of the law of

    nations for the environmental torts alleged, but in the end, the appellate court dismissed the claims onthe grounds of forum non conveniens. In Beanal, after some discussion of whether the conduct alleged

    violated the environmental principles discussed by the plaintiffs, the court dismissed the action for

    failure to allege violation of a universal, definable and obligatory international norm. Bano neverreached the issue due to the court's determination that the claims had been settled in India. In Flores, as

    in Beanal, the court found that the environmental allegations were not violations of the law of nations.

    In Sarei, Judge Morrow dismissed the plaintiffs' claim for a violation of the rights to life and health,

    and would have sustained the plaintiffs' claim based on UNCLOS if the entire case had not beendismissed based on the political question doctrine. If Sarei had reached a hearing on the merits, the

    UNCLOS claim would have been the first instance of an environmental claim yielding liability underthe ATCA. (205)

    8. Customary international law is the only basis for ATCA claims

    Mark Hamblett(Reporter) Alien Tort Claims Act Boundaries Clarified Published in the Miami Daily

    Business Review 2003 (Accessed via General OneFile Research Database)

    The body of customary international law that can provide a basis for suit under the AlienTortClaimsAct, Cabranes said, consists only of "those clear and unambiguous rules by which States universally

    abide, or to which they accede, out of a sense of legal obligation and mutual concern."

    But if the practice or custom is not "universally" followed by states out of that obligation, he

    said, "the practice cannot give rise to a rule of customary international law."

    9. Right to life and health are too abstract to base a court claim on

    Mark Hamblett(Reporter) Alien Tort Claims Act Boundaries Clarified Published in the Miami Daily

    Business Review 2003 (Accessed via General OneFile Research Database)

    The plaintiffs in Flores asked the 2nd Circuit to expand the scope of the law to include "shockingly

    egregious" acts that are distinct from those torts that concern mere violations of domestic law.

    Judge Cabranes and Judges Amalya Kearse and Dennis Jacobs declined to do so.

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    ATCA Reform - NegAllowing Alien Tort claims based on the "boundless and indeterminate" principles of "right to

    life" or "right to health" would be a mistake, the court said.

    "They express virtuous goals understandably expressed at a level of abstraction needed tosecure the adherence of states that disagree on many of the particulars regarding how actually to

    achieve them," Cabranes said.

    ATTITUDINAL BARRIER

    Countries opposed to the Act the twisted interpretation entails political backlash

    National Center for Public Policy Research, November 2003. John Meredith.http://www.nationalcenter.org/LB34.html

    The personal injury lawyers are suing the American companies under the Alien Tort Claims Act,

    a law enacted in 1789 to prevent pirates from disposing of booty in U.S. seaports. The law, which

    allows foreign plaintiffs to litigate in U.S. courts, lay dormant for some 200 years, before the lawyersmanaged to convince a judge that it might be used to sue American companies with investments in

    South Africa. The South African government vigorously opposes that twisted interpretation. In effect,

    asking the lawyers to cease and desist. Mandela is particularly upset by the lawyers' suggestion thatoutsiders - U.S. courts thousands of miles away - can do a better job at remedying the wrongs of apartheidthan South Africa's own Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which considers claims and grants reparations to apartheid

    victims. "South Africans are competent to deal with issues of reconciliation, reparation and transformation amongst

    themselves without outside interference, instigation or instruction," Mandela said recently. "We have dealt with our political

    transition in that manner and we are capable of dealing with other aspects of our transformation in similar ways." Penuell

    Maduna, South Africa's Minister of Justice, warns that the U.S. lawsuits threaten foreign investment in

    his country, and notes that "we talking to the very same companies named in the lawsuits aboutinvesting in post-apartheid South Africa."

    http://www.nationalcenter.org/LB34.htmlhttp://www.nationalcenter.org/LB34.html
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    ATCA Reform - Negdefendant under ATCA, simply being named a defendant in such a suit has substantial negative effects

    on a company's public image. For instance, in the case of Yahoo!, the company faced significant public

    relations difficulties in defending itself against claims that it had assisted the Chinese government'sefforts in obtaining evidence sufficient to jail two dissidents. Therefore, even though a company might

    not be legally liable, it might still suffer from what some consider moral liability. Finally, there are

    potentially significant financial implications as well. In the case involving Chevron, although it was

    eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, the company had to endure the cost of litigating a case thatstretched on for ten years. Even for those companies that choose to settle the claims, the price of

    settlement can be substantial. While these settlements are generally undisclosed, some reports put

    settlement figures of ATCA claims in the millions of dollars.

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    DA #2 COUNTRIES HURT

    Link: Jeopardized foreign investments

    National Center for Public Policy Research, November 2003. John Meredith.http://www.nationalcenter.org/LB34.html

    The fact that the litigation jeopardizes badly needed foreign investment in South Africa hasn't deterredthe already wealthy American lawyers who stand to walk away with millions of dollars if they are

    successful. That would be a disaster for South Africa, a nation of 43 million with a 37 percent

    unemployment rate and 50 percent of the population living under the poverty line. The situation is

    made much worse by the country's incredible AIDS pandemic: 20.1 percent of the adult populationhave the debilitating disease and 360,000 men, women and children die from it annually

    Brink: No investment=industry shuts down, foreign companies leave

    National Center for Public Policy Research, November 2003. John Meredith.

    http://www.nationalcenter.org/LB34.html

    The American personal injury lawyers - virtually all of them multi-millionaires - have a strategy that is

    downright self-serving, to say the least. Their first tactic is to make outrageous charges against thecorporations, using the resulting negative publicity to bully them into signing a lucrative one-sided

    settlements. Those businesses with backbone enough to seek "justice" encounter the lawyers' fallback

    strategy, which is to proceed with trials before friendly, hand-picked judges who foster multi-million

    dollar jury verdicts. In either case, poor black South Africans will get what amounts to peanuts - very small

    compensation for participating in a lawsuit that leaves their stagnant economy with even fewer jobs as

    foreign companies delay new investment and expansion plans, and, in some cases, shutter their factory

    doors and leave.

    Impact: Stagnate 3rd world economies/more disease

    Daniel Griswold of the Cato Institute, 2003.He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin atMadison and a diploma in economics and a master's degree in the Politics of the World Economy from the London School of Economics. Daniel Griswold

    is director of theCenter for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. Abuse of 18th Century Law Threatens U.S. Economic andSecurity Interests. http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=2965

    The unjust wielding of the ATCA threatens to damage the U.S. economy and the often-underdeveloped

    economies of the host countries. If those cases move forward and ultimately result in damages, it couldput a chill on profitable foreign investment, jeopardizing jobs and investment capital in the United

    States while retarding development in poor countries. Hundreds of millions of poor people around the

    world will find it more difficult to escape poverty. (H/H)

    http://www.nationalcenter.org/LB34.htmlhttp://www.nationalcenter.org/LB34.htmlhttp://www.freetrade.org/http://www.freetrade.org/http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=2965http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=2965http://www.nationalcenter.org/LB34.htmlhttp://www.nationalcenter.org/LB34.htmlhttp://www.freetrade.org/http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=2965
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    DA #3 SOFT POWER

    Internal Link: ATCA lawsuits hinder foreign policy interest

    National Center for Public Policy Research, November 2003. John Meredith.http://www.nationalcenter.org/LB34.html

    The Bush Administration agrees and has filed a brief seeking to limit ATCA lawsuits in U.S. courts on thegrounds they pose a direct threat to national security and foreign policy interests and could hinderAmerica's war against terrorism. To do less is to embrace a paternalistic theory that smacks more than

    faintly of colonialism and racism. It's time to end the lawyers' quest for jackpot justice at the expense of U.S. foreign

    policy interests and South Africa's desperate need to revive a decaying economy.

    Link: Foreign policy initiatives hindered, imperiled counter-terrorism efforts

    Daniel Griswold of the Cato Institute, 2003. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin atMadison and a diploma in economics and a master's degree in the Politics of the World Economy from the London School of Economics. Daniel Griswoldis director of theCenter for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. Abuse of 18th Century Law Threatens U.S. Economic and

    Security Interests. http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=2965

    Abuse of the ATCA is complicating U.S. foreign policy at a time when the United States needs to winfriends and influence nations in the war against terrorism. Suits filed under the ATCA breed resentment

    abroad that the U.S. legal system is attempting to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations. In one

    case involving Indonesia and Exxon Mobil Corporation, the U.S. State Department warned in a July

    2002 friend-of-the-court letter that, "U.S. counter-terrorism initiatives could be imperiled in numerousways if Indonesia and its officials curtailed cooperation in response to perceived disrespect for its

    sovereign interests." American interest would be further jeopardized if the lawsuits lead to worsening

    economic conditions and instability in countries the United States is trying to cultivate as allies. As theState Department noted in the Indonesia case, "increasing opportunities for U.S. business abroad is an

    important aspect of U.S. foreign policy." (H/H)

    Impact : Loss of soft power

    1. Without soft power the US loses leverage in international affairs

    Joseph S. Nye (Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University. The 2008 TRIP survey of 1700international relations scholars ranked him as the sixth most influential scholar of the past twenty years, and the most

    influential on American foreign policy. Received his bachelor's degree summa cum laude from Princeton in 1958, did

    postgraduate work at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship and earned his Ph.D. He is the University Distinguished Service

    Professor of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He was Deputy to the Under Secretary ofState for Security Assistance, Science and Technology and chaired the National Security Council Group on

    Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Nye also served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs

    in the Clinton Administration. In recognition of his service, he received the highest Department of State commendation, the

    Distinguished Honor Award. In 1993 and 1994, he was chairman of the National Intelligence Council, which coordinates

    intelligence estimates for the President. He was awarded the Intelligence Communitys Distinguished Service Medal. In1994 and 1995, he served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, where he also won the

    Distinguished Service Medal with an Oak Leaf Cluster.), May 2004 "The Decline of America's Soft Power," published inForeign Affairs Magazine, http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20040501facomment83303/joseph-s-nye-jr/the-decline-of-

    america-s-soft-power.html(JES)

    "Soft power, therefore, is not just a matter of ephemeral popularity; it is a means of obtaining outcomesthe United States wants. When Washington discounts the importance of its attractiveness abroad, it

    pays a steep price. When the United States becomes so unpopular that being pro-American is a kiss of

    death in other countries' domestic politics, foreign political leaders are unlikely to make helpful

    http://www.nationalcenter.org/LB34.htmlhttp://www.freetrade.org/http://www.freetrade.org/http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=2965http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=2965http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20040501facomment83303/joseph-s-nye-jr/the-decline-of-america-s-soft-power.htmlhttp://www.foreignaffairs.org/20040501facomment83303/joseph-s-nye-jr/the-decline-of-america-s-soft-power.htmlhttp://www.foreignaffairs.org/20040501facomment83303/joseph-s-nye-jr/the-decline-of-america-s-soft-power.htmlhttp://www.nationalcenter.org/LB34.htmlhttp://www.freetrade.org/http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=2965http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20040501facomment83303/joseph-s-nye-jr/the-decline-of-america-s-soft-power.htmlhttp://www.foreignaffairs.org/20040501facomment83303/joseph-s-nye-jr/the-decline-of-america-s-soft-power.html
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    ATCA Reform - Negconcessions (witness the defiance of Chile, Mexico, and Turkey in March 2003). And when U.S. policies lose their legitimacy

    in the eyes of others, distrust grows, reducing U.S. leverage in international affairs."

    2. Soft Power is key to a lot of issues.

    Joshua Kurlantzick(Visiting scholar in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a fellow at the USCSchool of Public Diplomacy and the Pacific Council on International Policy; previously foreign editor at The New

    Republic), December 2005 "The Decline of American Soft Power", Published in Current History, [Vol. 104, Issue 686;pg. 419] (JES)

    "A broad decline in soft power has many practical implications. These include the drain in foreign

    talent coming to the United States, the potential backlash against American companies, the growing

    attractiveness of China and Europe, and the possibility that anti-US sentiment will make it easier forterrorist groups to recruit. In addition, with a decline in soft power, Washington is simply less able to

    persuade others. In the run-up to the Iraq War, the Bush administration could not convince Turkey, a longtime US ally, to play a major staging role,in part because America's image in Turkey was so poor. During the war itself, the United States has failed to obtain significant participation from all but a

    handful of major nations, again in part because of America's negative image in countries ranging from India to Germany. In attempts topersuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons, Washington has had to allow China to play a

    central role, partly because few Asian states view the United States as a neutral, legitimate broker in the

    talks. Instead, Washington must increasingly resort to the other option Nye discusses-force, or the threat of force. With foreign governments and publicssuspicious of American policy, the White House has been unable to lead a multinational effort to halt Iran's nuclear program, and instead has had to resort

    to threatening sanctions at the United Nations or even the possibility of strikes against Iran. With America's image declining in nations

    like Thailand and Pakistan, it is harder for leaders in these countries to openly embrace

    counterterrorism cooperation with the United States, so Washington resorts to quiet arm-twisting and blandishments to obtain

    counterterror concessions. Force is not a long-term solution. Newer, nontraditional security threats such as disease, human

    trafficking, and drug trafficking can only be managed through forms of multilateral cooperation that

    depend on America's ability to persuade other nations. Terrorism itself cannot be defeated by force alone, a fact that even theWhite House recognizes. The 2002 National security Strategy emphasizes that winning the war on terror requires the United States to lead a battle of ideasagainst the ideological roots of terrorism, in addition to rooting out and destroying individual militant cells."

  • 8/9/2019 NEG - ATCA Reform CON

    25/25

    Joshua Ridenour SHINE, SC Page 25 of 25

    ATCA Reform - Neg

    DA #4 RULE OF LAW

    Link: Aff. extends right of action for environmental damages under ATCA

    Internal Link: Current interpretations twist the original nature/intent of the law

    Daniel Griswold of the Cato Institute, 2003. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin atMadison and a diploma in economics and a master's degree in the Politics of the World Economy from the London School of Economics. Daniel Griswold

    is director of theCenter for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. Abuse of 18th Century Law Threatens U.S. Economic and

    Security Interests. http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=2965

    The loophole is the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), passed by the first Congress in 1789. The act gives federaldistrict courts sole jurisdiction over civil actions brought by non-U.S. residents for torts, or wrongful

    acts, "committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States." The law was

    originally intended merely to clarify jurisdiction in cases involving such matters as piracy and theactions of diplomats. It was never intended to be used against Americans engaged in commerce abroad.

    But in the last two decades, critics of global capitalism have turned the law against U.S. corporations

    doing business in countries whose governments have been accused of human rights and environmentalabuses. (H/H)

    Impact: Rule of Law is key to stable society

    Public Affairs Journal, 2008. (Lauren Zeitler is currently a junior at William Smith College. She is a double major in Political Science andLatin American Studies, in addition to completing an honors project regarding the latinization of the U.S. labor force.)http://www.publicaffairsjournal.com/?q=node/33

    This framework, called the Rule of Law, requires that liberty and freedom be equally applied to secure thefreedom of mobility .The Rule of Law protects the relationship between economic and political

    freedoms. Under the Rule, private property, competition and personal freedoms are equally enforced so

    that every individual is subject to equal market forces. (H/H)

    http://www.freetrade.org/http://www.freetrade.org/http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=2965http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=2965http://www.publicaffairsjournal.com/?q=node/33http://www.freetrade.org/http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=2965http://www.publicaffairsjournal.com/?q=node/33