Good News for Scott Lively against SMUG: Supreme Court Ejects Foreign Lawsuits from U.S. Courts

Scott Lively

The following release was sent out today by Liberty Counsel:

April 17, 2013

Supreme Court Ejects Foreign Suits from U.S. Courts

The Supreme Court today held that the federal Alien Tort Statute (ATS) cannot be used to challenge foreign conduct in United States courts. In Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, the High Court held that the ATS does not “reach conduct occurring in the territory of a foreign sovereign.”

The decision is a severe blow to foreign entities and individuals that have sought to use the ATS – with alarming success in the last three decades – to bring foreign disputes in U.S. courts. Liberty Counsel currently represents Pastor Scott Lively [founder of Abiding Truth Ministries] in one such case brought against him by Sexual Minorities Uganda, which calls itself “SMUG.” In its lawsuit, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, SMUG claims that Mr. Lively violated “international law” when he criticized homosexual conduct while visiting Uganda.

The Supreme Court has now accepted Liberty Counsel’s argument and has made it the law of the land. On the basis of the just-issued decision in Kiobel, Liberty Counsel has again asked the Massachusetts federal court to dismiss SMUG’s lawsuit.

Please pray that today’s decision will soon lead to Mr. Lively’s exoneration and the reaffirmation of the supremacy and portability of the United States Constitution.

Read our News Release for more details and then head over to our [Liberty Counsel] Facebook page to let us know what you think.