My question has a one-word answer: Congress. The explanation, however, takes a few pages. As nearly every reader of this Journal knows, the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) is a one-sentence law enacted by Congress in 1789 that reads: "[t]he district courts shall have 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." Enacted as part of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which was passed soon after ratification of the U.S. Constitution, the ATS was intended to show European powers that the new nation would not tolerate violations of its treaties or the "law of nations," especially when foreign ambassadors or foreign ship owners were assaulted by U.S. citizens. The purpose was to avert unnecessary tensions between the United States and Europe: America would not harbor scofflaws. The immediate concerns were attacks against foreign ambassadors; piracy on the high seas and safe conduct for foreign diplomats were thrown in for good measure.
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