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The Supreme Court seems likely to shut down a lawsuit by Falun Gong over Cisco’s aid to China
Justices weighed whether federal law allows Falun Gong members to seek damages from Cisco over surveillance technology used in China, with a ruling expected by late June.
- On Tuesday, the Supreme Court signaled it likely will grant California-based Cisco Systems' bid to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the company's technology helped Chinese authorities persecute Falun Gong members.
- Plaintiffs in the 2011 lawsuit allege Cisco knowingly designed the "Golden Shield" internet surveillance system, which the Chinese Communist Party used to track, detain, and torture spiritual movement members.
- Cisco lawyer Kannon Shanmugam told justices "Cisco vigorously disputes those allegations," arguing the 9th Circuit overstepped its authority by interpreting the Alien Tort Statute to allow liability for aiding and abetting.
- The Trump administration filed a brief siding with Cisco, citing significant foreign-policy concerns, while the Supreme Court has grown increasingly skeptical of using U.S. courts for international human rights litigation.
- Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson appeared most willing to let the case continue, though the Supreme Court is expected to issue a final decision by late June.
35 Articles
35 Articles
SCOTUS Skeptical of Lawsuit Accusing Cisco of Aiding China’s Torture of Falun Gong
A majority of justices, though sympathetic, seemed reluctant to allow members of the Falun Gong movement to sue a U.S. tech firm they accused of assisting the Chinese communist government of “aiding and abetting” in torture. In the case of Cisco v. Doe, the Supreme Court is considering a lower…
SCOTUS Hesitant on Cisco's Role in China Torture Lawsuit
A majority of justices, though sympathetic, seemed reluctant to allow members of the Falun Gong movement to sue a U.S. tech firm they accused of assisting the Chinese communist government of “aiding and abetting” in torture. In the case of Cisco v. Doe, the Supreme Court is considering a lower court’s ruling that would have allowed the lawsuit against Cisco to proceed. “This case is about the systematic persecution of a religious minority by Chi…
Can companies be prosecuted in civil law in the United States for complicity in human rights violations abroad? This is a thorny issue that the Supreme Court, the majority of which is conservative, debated on Tuesday.
UPDATE 2-US Supreme Court weighs claims Cisco aided Chinese human rights abuses
The justices heard arguments in Cisco's appeal of a lower court's 2023 ruling that breathed new life into the 2011 lawsuit, brought under the Alien Tort Statute of 1789, that accused the company of knowingly developing technology that allowed China's government to surveil and persecute Falun Gong members. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority, and some of its conservative justices signaled agreement with the stance taken by Kannon Shanmugam…
US Supreme Court weighs claims Cisco aided Chinese human rights abuses
The U.S. Supreme Court confronted a case on Tuesday with broad implications for human rights litigation in American courts, a long-running lawsuit brought by members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement who have accused Cisco Systems.
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