Diaz Ex Rel. Estate of Martinez v. Grupo Mexico Inc.

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiffs bring suit under the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”), 28 U.S.C. § 1350 , which grants federal courts jurisdiction over an alien’s tort claims for a “violation of the law of nations.” As we have previously-explained, “any claim based on the law of nations must ‘rest on a norm of international character accepted by the civilized world and defined with a specificity comparable to the features of the 18th-century paradigms’ of piracy, infringement on the rights of ambassadors, and violation of safe conducts.” Abagninin v. AMVAC Chem. Corp., 545 F.3d 733, 737 (9th Cir.2008) (quoting Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, 542 U.S. 692, 725 , 124 S.Ct. 2739 , 159 L.Ed.2d 718 (2004)). Neither of the norms plaintiffs identify suffices to meet this standard.

First, plaintiffs have not provided sufficient evidence of an international norm prohibiting extrajudicial killings that are not the result of state action. See In re Estate of Marcos, Human Rights Litig., 978 F.2d 493, 501-02 (9th Cir.1992) (noting as a general matter that “[ojnly individuals who have acted under official authority or under color of such authority may violate international law”). Nor does the Mexican government’s…