9/11 Families Seek Court Access Under Federal Law After 25 Years
The outcome of a pending circuit court ruling will determine whether Congress's 2016 legislative grant of standing translates into an actual trial against Saudi Arabia.
A federal appeals court is weighing whether families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks may proceed to trial against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a legal fight that began more than two decades ago and turns on the interpretation of a law Congress passed in 2016, according to reporting by The Hill.
The central legal instrument is the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), enacted by Congress in September 2016. JASTA amended the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 to create a narrow exception allowing civil claims against foreign governments alleged to have supported terrorist acts on United States soil. The bill passed the Senate 97-1 and the House 348-77, according to congressional records. President Barack Obama vetoed the measure; Congress overrode that veto, also according to congressional records.
Saudi Arabia has denied any government involvement in the attacks. The 9/11 Commission, whose final report was published in July 2004, found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution, or senior Saudi officials acting in their personal capacity, funded al-Qaeda. The Commission did note that Saudi-based charities and individual donors were significant sources of funding for the group.
A separate set of FBI investigative documents, portions of which the Justice Department declassified and released beginning in September 2021 following a directive from President Biden, identified contacts between some of the hijackers and individuals connected to the Saudi government. The Saudi government said those documents contained no evidence of official involvement.
Fifteen of the nineteen hijackers held Saudi nationality, a fact that has been publicly established since the weeks immediately following the attacks. Plaintiffs in the civil litigation have argued that this demographic fact, combined with the declassified FBI materials and other evidence, is sufficient to sustain claims under JASTA's government-support standard.
The litigation has proceeded through multiple rounds of motions over the course of more than twenty years. The current posture, a circuit court review of whether the case may advance, represents one of the later procedural stages before any potential trial date could be set. The specific circuit court involved and the precise questions on which it is ruling were not fully detailed in the available source material. The docket of the relevant court would contain that information.
Congress has taken additional steps related to the case beyond JASTA. Senators have periodically pressed the executive branch for further declassification of FBI and CIA materials related to the attacks. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) were among members who pushed for document releases in the 2021 to 2023 period, according to congressional press releases from those offices.
The families' legal theory rests on whether the conduct alleged meets the statute's requirement of knowing provision of substantial assistance. Courts have interpreted that standard differently across various rulings, creating a body of case law that the circuit court must now apply to the Saudi Arabia facts.
If the circuit court allows the case to proceed, a trial would be the first opportunity for a public evidentiary hearing on the alleged Saudi government connection to the attacks. If the court rules against the families, further appeal to the Supreme Court would be the remaining judicial option, absent new legislation from Congress.
What remains unknown is the timeline for the circuit court's decision and the precise legal questions it has certified for review. The court's docket, publicly accessible through PACER, the federal judiciary's electronic records system, would contain the full briefing schedule and the questions presented.