Ahead Of Oral Arguments Before U.S. Supreme Court, AmFree Brief Warns Of Severe Consequences & Dangerous Precedent Of Allowing Foreign Governments To Use U.S. Litigation To Resolve Its Own Domestic Challenges
Washington, D.C. – Today, the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce (AmFree) filed an amicus brief in Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, No. 23-1141, a lawsuit brought by the Mexican government that seeks to hold U.S. gun manufacturers liable for cartel violence in Mexico.
The brief, which is available here, underscores three specific points:
- Overextending proximate cause is incompatible with due process. The Supreme Court has repeatedly reiterated the close causal nexus necessary for liability and should reaffirm that now.
- Foreseeability is an unbounded and unwieldy standard that hangs the sword of unlimited liability over the head of all American businesses. Entire industries that supply the necessities of everyday life and sustain the economy could easily fall victim to the same proximate-cause analysis.
- Each additional step in a causal chain allows sovereigns to reach further beyond their borders and act as de facto policymakers in the United States. Nuisance litigation based on attenuated causation has already frayed the relationship between the several States of the union, and adding foreign sovereigns to the mix will only make matters worse.
“Most Americans would be rightfully shocked at the mere idea of the Supreme Court needing to resolve whether gun sales in the United States are responsible for cartel violence in Mexico, especially when this type of lawsuit is specifically barred by the Protection of Lawful Conduct in Arms Act (PLCA),” said Machalagh Carr, Director Of AmFree’s Center For Legal Action (CLA). “Foreign governments attempting to weaponize our judicial system to resolve their domestic challenges is alarming evidence of out-of-control tort litigation. Should the Mexican government prevail in this case, the consequences and precedent for American law and American industry would be chaotic and dangerous.”
Originally dismissed by the Federal District Court in Boston in September 2022,the case was revived in January 2024 by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston.
The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the case on February 26, 2025.
AmFree is represented by Boyden Gray PLLC.
About AmFree:
AmFree is a trade organization representing American businesses of all sizes. It is dedicated to advancing the principles of free enterprise, free markets, limited government, and American leadership globally. AmFree Chamber is chaired by the Honorable Terry E. Branstad, who previously served as Ambassador to China and was the longest serving Governor in American history.
AmFree Chamber’s Center for Legal Action focuses on combatting administrative overregulation both through agency proceedings and in litigation and is chaired by two-time former U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr.
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