9/11 Families May Not Be Able to Sue Saudis After All

The fate of the Sept. 11 families’ lawsuit against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia may depend on the Partridge family. The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, enacted by Congress on Thursday over President Barack Obama’s veto, is supposed to let the suit go forward. But for the federal courts to have legal authority, the families will most likely have to show that the Sept. 11 attacks were “effects” of actions taken by the Saudi government. And the leading U.S. Supreme Court case governing what counts as effects involved the actress Shirley Jones, known for her role as Shirley Partridge in the 1970s show “The Partridge Family.” Jones sued a writer and editor for the National Enquirer where she lived in California over a libelous article that was written in Florida.

The legal issues are technical, but they’re important for whether the act is a real threat to Saudi Arabia or merely an empty symbolic gesture by Congress. The Saudis clearly think the threat is meaningful. And the president argued in vetoing the law that it would set a bad precedent for other countries that want to allow suits against the U.S. government. But none of this will matter much if there’s a loophole that ensures the Sept. 11 suit can’t go forward.