Supreme Court Weighs 3 New 9/11 Petitions as Victims Seek $3.5 Billion in Afghan Funds
Updated
Updated · SCOTUSblog · Sep 11
Supreme Court Weighs 3 New 9/11 Petitions as Victims Seek $3.5 Billion in Afghan Funds
3 articles · Updated · SCOTUSblog · Sep 11
Summary
Three new petitions tied to the Sept. 11 attacks are heading to the Supreme Court, putting 9/11 plea deals and frozen Afghan assets back before the justices 25 years after the attacks.
Two petitions come from Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, Mustafa al Hawsawi and Walid bin 'Atash, who want July 2024 plea deals restored after the D.C. Circuit let the government withdraw agreements that would have spared them the death penalty.
The justices are set to discuss those plea-deal cases at their Sept. 28 long conference, with a decision on whether to hear them possible in early October.
A third petition, filed by 9/11 families, other terror victims and insurers, asks the court to let them pursue $3.5 billion in Afghan central bank funds frozen at the New York Fed under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.
That Afghan-funds case follows a 2nd Circuit ruling that the assets were frozen before the Taliban took control; responses from the Taliban and the New York Fed are due Oct. 5.