JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The Trump administration launched a series of deadly missile strikes that hit boats off the coast of Venezuela. Now the first case against the government has landed in an American court. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports.
CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo are presumed dead after a U.S. missile hit the boat they were taking home to Trinidad last October. President Trump said the strike targeted narco terrorists when he posted the video online, but families of those men say they had no ties to the drug trade. Now Joseph's mother and Samaroo's sister are suing the U.S. government in federal court in Massachusetts.
BRETT MAX KAUFMAN: These are totally unjustifiable killings by an administration that has claimed the right to abuse executive power with impunity.
JOHNSON: Brett Max Kaufman's one of their lawyers.
KAUFMAN: The government has trumpeted these strikes on social media with splashy videos. But our lawsuit makes clear that each of these 36 strikes, which have killed more than 130 people, have devastating human costs.
JOHNSON: Their court papers allege violations of the Alien Tort Statute. That law allows foreign citizens to sue over extrajudicial killing. They're also relying on a separate law that makes the U.S. government liable if it causes a wrongful death in international waters. That one's called the Death on the High Seas Act. Jeffrey Stein is an ACLU lawyer working for the families.
JEFFREY STEIN: Our complaint makes clear that the U.S. government's killing of Chad and Rishi was homicide, plain and simple. And courts have long held that homicide is precisely the sort of wrongful act that entitles plaintiffs to compensation under the Death on the High Seas Act.
JOHNSON: The lawyers say relying on those very old American laws will help them bypass the federal government's claims of immunity. Edward Swaine is a law professor at George Washington University. Swaine foresees some obstacles. One, he says, is that judges may steer clear of the heart of the case, reasoning that it involves a question best left to the political branches.
EDWARD SWAINE: I think lower courts in particular may be tempted to say that they should stay away from questioning the merits of a decision to launch an attack or how that attack is conducted.
JOHNSON: Swaine says the Trump administration also could claim the case involves state secrets, and if a court agrees, that might end the case. For now, the White House says President Trump used his lawful authority to take action against the scourge of illicit drugs that's resulted in the needless deaths of innocent Americans. The Justice Department says the strikes were ordered consistent with the laws of armed conflict. DOJ says it will continue to defend Trump's authority to use military force to protect the American people. Carrie Johnson, NPR News.
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