Second Circuit Revives Alien Tort Statute in Filartiga Ruling

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled on June 30, 1980, in Filartiga v. Pena-Irala that the Alien Tort Statute permits lawsuits for violations of modern international human rights law. Paraguayan citizen Dolly Filartiga sued former Paraguayan inspector general Americo Pena-Irala for the torture and murder of her brother Joelito. The Second Circuit held that state-sponsored torture violates the law of nations, awakening a statute dormant since 1789 and opening U.S. courts to human rights cases.