The U.S. Solicitor General on Friday urged the Supreme Court not to get involved, at this stage, in a lawsuit in U.S. courts by villagers in Indonesia claiming they were abused by guards at a natural gas plant operated there by Exxon Mobil Corp. and affiliates. Sol. Gen. Paul D. Clement said lower court rulings had significantly narrowed the lawsuit, and it does not present, as of now, any real threats to U.S. foreign policy interests and no claims against the Indonesian government. The case is Exxon Mobil, et al., v. Doe, et al. (07-81). The U.S. government's views were sought by the Court on Nov. 13. The case has not yet been scheduled for consideration by the Court.
The government's amicus brief can be downloaded here. An earlier post on this blog describing a denial in January by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., of a request to stop further evidence-gathering in the case in District Court can be read here.
The appeal in the case does not directly challenge the lawsuit, although the end of the case is the ultimate objective. Rather, the appeal seeks to test whether Exxon Mobil had a right to file an immediate appeal to the D.C. Circuit when a federal District judge refused to dismiss the case entirely. The Circuit Court found that Exxon Mobil had not made a case for a right to appeal at this stage.
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