Neal Katyal Argues U.S. Corporations Should Not Be Liable for Using Child Slaves Abroad, But SCOTUS

[Calista241]

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Source: Law and Crime

Neal Katyal Argues U.S. Corporations Should Not Be Liable for Using Child Slaves Abroad, But SCOTUS Appears Unconvinced

Barack Obama’s former acting Solicitor General and current litigator Neal Katyal appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments on Tuesday to defend multinational and U.S.-based corporations from liability for using child slaves abroad for profit.

Throughout the proceedings, most of the nine justices appeared skeptical of Katyal’s arguments on behalf of his corporate clients. But attorney Paul Hoffman, representing several former child slaves, often struggled before the high court himself–leaving the ultimate adjudication of the likely-to-be influential case anyone’s guess.

In two consolidated cases stylized as Nestlé USA v. Doe I and Cargill, Inc. v. Doe I, former child slaves forced to work on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast sued the companies in their corporate forms for aiding and abetting slave labor under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) of 1798.

Passed by the very first U.S. Congress, the ATS authorizes federal courts to effectively craft or sanction novel causes of action so long as the underlying activity–the bad behavior alleged–violates international law. Another way to think about the ATS is that it is one of a small number of U.S. legal instruments that can be used to assert universal jurisdiction over violations of international law. At root, the law allows non-U.S. citizens an avenue for redress that would otherwise be unavailable to them in the U.S. legal system.

Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/supreme-court/neal-katyal-argues-u-s-corporations-should-not-be-liable-for-using-child-slaves-abroad-but-scotus-appears-unconvinced/

[ret5hd]

1. Nestle comes up again and again when speaking of evil companies.

Starting to wonder if Nesle is evil.

[thucythucy]

2. Nestle again.

I remember the "Crunch Nestle Quick" boycott back in the day.

Nestle had been giving free samples of baby formula to new mothers in the developing world, along with a big ad campaign saying bottle feeding was better than breast feeding. Aside from being untrue, they also weren't telling mothers that if they didn't breast feed long enough their milk would dry up and they'd be forced to buy Nestle formula, which many women couldn't afford. The result was a spike in infant malnutrition and deaths. It was alleged that Nestle even bribed doctors to push their scam.

I hope the people bringing these suits will prevail.

[AllaN01Bear]

6. i did that and also 3 musketeers also , when they changed the taste i quit .

would be neat to bring this monster down. stealling ppls water and land and sofurth.

[judesedit]

13. Isn't Nestle the company that was basically stealing water from one of the Great Lakes

and selling it to China?

[rickyhall]

16. And stealing/draining California aquafer I believe.

[Evolve Dammit]

41. they're draining aquifers everywhere

[Marthe48]

44. I've boycotted nestle

since the baby formula story. To the best of my ability.

[Lunabell]

3. What kind of monster defends child slavery?

Depraved.

[Captain Zero]

30. When Neal Katyal comes on MSNBC in the future, I'm switching the channel

immediately to FOX or CNN to the end of the hour.
(You got that Rachel & Lawrence?)

[Rebl2]

33. Well

hopefully the talking heads at msnbc go after him on this.

[malthaussen]

4. Appalling.

Another sign that corporations want to be as free from government oversight as possible, with no barriers to profits. With a nice dash of national sovereignty issues wrapped in. Amidst all the yelping about the "rights" of the corporation, the human rights of its slaves are ignored.

-- Mal

[CrispyQ]

18. I love this personhood rights timeline from Reclaim Democracy's corporate personhood pages.

http://reclaimdemocracy.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/personhood_timeline.pdf

And below is a link to their main personhood page. I think it's worth reading every link on the page. I also think this is an issue that both left & right could coalesce around. The framers never meant for corporations to have the same Constitutional rights as We the People.

https://reclaimdemocracy.org/corporate-personhood/

[ancianita]

5. Very disappointed that Katyal would take such a position.

[mopinko]

7. sometimes lawyers hope to lose.

i'm guessing in this case, he hopes to lose.
everyone is entitled to a defense. but sometimes, you just hope for justice more than victory.

[onenote]

12. So he just took the case for the money?

[KPN]

27. Wait. Are you saying he took the case because he hoped to lose?

[Marthe48]

45. either way, where is his moral compass?

If he took the case to lose, he is cheating his clients.

If he took the case in the sincere hope of defending the indefensible, I can't respect him.


I don't see any way to keep thinking he is one of the good guys.

[mopinko]

49. he took an oath.

the bar requires you to take cases. everyone deserves the best defense.
that is what you swear to to be an attorney.

[LisaM]

50. That's what it means to be a public defender.

Anyone in private practice can exercise whatever ethics they choose.

[mopinko]

51. nope. that's an oath to join the bar.

also includes being tapped for pro bono cases if a judge thinks you havent done enough of them.
what makes you think they are free to make up their own rules?
i'm not saying they dont. surely they do.
but they took an oath.

[Evolve Dammit]

42. ditto

[Jarqui]

8. Why is this even a debate? ..nt

[ananda]

25. Exactly. Child slavery is an evil that should never be tolerated!

Period

[CrispyQ]

9. Shocked and sad to read that Katyal would defend this. -nt

[Duppers]

14. Same here!

Hope to never see him on MSNBC again...or CNN for that matter.

[Bayard]

36. I would like to see Rachel ask him about this on her show

I've always had great respect for him, but this sounds very rethuglican, Neal.

[DeminPennswoods]

28. Yes

I guess money is money.

[jalan48]

10. Obama's and now corporate solicitor? This is awkward.

[kysrsoze]

11. Sure, Nestle is truly evil, but how can Neal Katyal not feel shamed to defend them? Another asshole

talking head who, despite railing against Dump, appears to not have any integrity.

[RainCaster]

15. Who are his "corporate clients"? Apple?

It would be great to know who is so sleazy that they hire this turncoat.

[sarchasm]

17. Well, this is disconcerting.

Especially considering his history. But, lawyers and their amorality theory...

[simplesimon]

19. How about a novel remedy?

Simply require any US company using slaves abroad -- child especially, but adult, too -- to BUY the slaves they use from whoever owns them, free them and maintain them in a decent standard of living.

Otherwise these companies are actually giving aid and comfort to and participating in the slave market that exists in parts of the world. I'd love to see the Lincoln Project get hold of this one.

[Paladin]

21. Yet another admired individual, into a ditch.

Neal Katyal---why the Barr/Giuliani detour? Really disappointing---you've practiced before SCOTUS on prior occasions, and I can't imagine you need the money.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

22. The cases are not about whether child slavery is really great.

Last edited Wed Dec 2, 2020, 01:48 PM - Edit history (1)

The cases are about whether the Alien Tort Statute applies. {edited: not "statue"}

Tue Dec 1, 2020: Supreme Court weighs child-slavery case against Nestle USA, Cargill

Oral arguments are coming up. C-Span says you can watch, but, no, you can't.

WATCH LIVE ON DECEMBER 01 | 10AM ET | C-SPAN.ORG

Alien Tort Statute Consolidated Arguments

The U.S. Supreme Court hears the consolidated oral arguments in Nestle USA, Inc v. Doe I, Docket number 19-416 and Cargill, Inc v. Doe I, a consolidated case on U.S. corporations and liabilities for alleged child slave labor violations abroad.

Supreme Court weighs child-slavery case against Nestlé USA, Cargill

Link to tweet

Case preview: When can U.S. companies be sued for alleged violations of international human rights?

By Amy Howe on Nov 30, 2020 at 10:21 am

Enacted as part of the Judiciary Act of 1789, the Alien Tort Statute allows foreigners to bring lawsuits in U.S. courts for serious violations of international law. On Tuesday, the justices will hear oral argument in a pair of cases, Nestlé USA v. Doe I and Cargill, Inc. v. Doe I, that ask whether a lawsuit brought under the ATS by former child slaves in Ivory Coast can continue. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants, both U.S. companies, facilitated human-rights abuses on the plantations where the youths worked. The companies warn that allowing lawsuits like this one to go forward could be a drain on the U.S. economy and cause problems for U.S. foreign policy, while the plaintiffs counter that these are exactly the kinds of lawsuits that Congress intended to address with the ATS.

{snip}

It's like this: that the ACLU defended the right of Illinois Nazis to hold a march in Skokie did not mean that the ACLU's lawyers had joined the Nazi party.

[KPN]

29. But Katyal isn't defending the plaintiffs' right

to sue in this case. The ACLU case — apples and oranges.

[Calista241]

32. There's a difference between saying believe what you want w/o gov't interference

And justifying the enslavement of people overseas because they’re not subject to our laws over there.

[Roc2020]

24. 1798 statute? wow

[in2herbs]

31. Disappointing to read that Katyal is involved with supporting this litigation. And yes, Nestle is

an evil company, with an evil corporate masterlord. Nestle is attempting to purchase water rights all over the world and the CEO is on record saying that water is not a right. Nestle tried to establish a water bottling facility in Phx a few years ago. Didn't follow the issue so I don't know if Phx gave them permission or not.

[Towlie]

34. Maybe as a frequent MSNBC guest he was using reverse psychology to deal with conservative justices.

 
?

[kag]

46. That was my thought.

Could work. Especially on the two most recent additions to the court

[beachbumbob]

35. look at the inverse, why doesn't US be subjected to World Court jurisdiction?

seems to be tough to have it both ways

[BamaRefugee]

37. Just sayin'....

Katyal clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts at Hogan Lovells law firm before Roberts went to the Supreme Court.
Katyal now RUNS the appellate practice at Hogan Lovells that Roberts used to run.

Katyal won a unanimous decision from the Supreme Court defending former Attorney General John Ashcroft against alleged abuses of civil liberties in the war on terror in Ashcroft v. al-Kidd.

Katyal endorsed President Trump's nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court in an op-ed to The New York Times.

In addition to Gorsuch, Katyal also spoke highly of President Trump's nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.[26] In multiple tweets that were cited by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in favor of Kavanaugh's confirmation,[27] Katyal praised Kavanaugh's "credentials [and] hardworking nature,"[28] and described his "mentoring and guidance" of female law clerks as "a model for all of us in the legal profession."[29] Katyal has also described Kavanaugh as "very gracious"[30] and "incredibly likable."[31] “It’s very hard for anyone who has worked with him, appeared before him, to frankly say a bad word about him,” Katyal observed during a July 2018 panel on Kavanaugh's nomination sponsored by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank.

Katyal lavished praise on Amy Covid Barrett:
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/former-obama-acting-solicitor-general-neal-katyal-calls-amy-coney-barrett-a-brilliant-and-lovely-person/

He is a self-described "extremist centrist".

[CrispyQ]

38. Thanks for that.

A reminder that we shouldn't judge people by just the few minutes we see of them on TV. Something I'm guilty of.

[melman]

48. The TV should be more open about who it is they're presenting

MSNBC puts a lot of absolutely garbage people on without explaining who they really are.

[diva77]

39. Thank you for posting this.

Incredibly important for people to see this and let MSNBC know what they think.

This is all I could find regarding how to contact MSNBC:
https://www.msnbc.com/information/contact-msnbc-n1241695

K&R for exposure!!

[BamaRefugee]

40. These are just things I found on his Wikipedia, I'm sure there's more, and a Wiki can be tilted in

someone's favor fairly easily.

So kinda worrisome that this much stuff is still on there, wonder how much has been removed?

[ancianita]

43. Thanks for the info. I'm no longer a fan of Katyal. He can go suck it.

[iluvtennis]

47. So, so disgusted that Neal Katyal represented the plaintiffs. I'll never view him the same again. n

[Omaha Steve]

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