Solicitor General Tells U.S. Supreme Court to Reject Rubin v. Iran Case

Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli, Jr.

Saying that the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals got it right, the U.S. Solicitor General told the Supreme Court last week to reject the case of Rubin v. Iran.


Lawyers for Jenny Rubin and other injured litigants who won a judgment against Iran for its sponsorship of a 1997 terrorist attack have been trying to collect a multi-million dollar court award by attempting to seize ancient Persian artifacts located at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago and the Chicago Field Museum.  The Seventh Circuit on March 29, 2011 sent the case back to the federal district court in Illinois for review. But the Rubin plaintiffs instead sought review by the nation's highest court.  See here for more background.

The U.S. Supreme Court responded in February 2012 by asking the Solicitor General (the U.S. government's attorney specifically assigned to the Supreme Court) to file an opinion. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. filed an amicus curiae brief (friend of the court brief) arguing that the Rubin plaintiffs' petition for certiorari (e.g. review by the supreme court) "should be denied" because the appeals court correctly ruled on the matter. The full brief may be found here.

For more about the parallel case in the First Circuit click here.

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(c) Ricardo A. St. Hilaire, Attorney & Counselor at Law, PLLC