Randy Paul over at Beautiful Horizens has an interesting post, Back to Reality, on Human Rights Watch's recent report of an attempt by Ashcroft's Justice Department to effectively quash the Alien Torts Claim Act.

In a brief filed in John Doe I, et al. v. Unocal Corporation, et al., a case originally filed in 1996 and currently being reheard by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Justice Department

...argued for a radical re-interpretation of the 1789 Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA). For over 20 years, courts have held that the ATCA permits victims of serious violations of international law abroad to seek civil damages in U.S. courts against their alleged abusers who are found in the United States. The Justice Department would deny victims the right to sue under the ATCA for abuses committed abroad.

“This is a craven attempt to protect human rights abusers at the expense of victims,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “The Bush administration is trying to overturn a longstanding judicial precedent that has been very important in the protection of human rights.”