Download Magazine - Levin College of Law - University of Florida

tender age of 18, where he became anexpert in disarming explosives. He was aMustang — an enlisted soldier who entersthe Army as a private but works his wayup to the rank of an officer — retiringas a major. After leaving the army, Hallwent to work as a civilian contractor inKuwait disarming unexploded munitionsthat were left from the First Gulf War.Because of their close proximityto Iraq, Chad Hall’s crew used GPSto identify the Kuwait/Iraq border andclearly marked it with red stakes. Hallwas working close to the border but wasclearly in Kuwait’s territory when he waskidnapped.He was first taken to a remote jailbefore being transferred to the now infamousAbu Ghraib prison in Baghdadwhere the torture and interrogationscontinued.By the third day, American authoritieshad learned of Chad Hall’s abduction,but with no diplomatic relationship withIraq, turned to Poland for assistance. Onthe fourth day of Chad Hall’s imprisonment,the Polish government located himand brought him food and other necessities.Two days later, Poland negotiated hisrelease, and he flew to freedom.“I have a sense ofinternal outragewhenever I seean abuse ofpower. All ofthat...comes fromthe circumstancesof my birth and myearly childhood.”THE LEGAL BATTLEIn pursuit of justice for Chad Hall, AndrewHall researched whether sovereignstates that sponsor terrorism could besued by their victims. He found one case:Prince v. Germany. Prince was a Jewish-American who was captured by Nazis inPoland at the start of World War II. Decadeslater in 1991, he sued Germany,and a federal judge ruled that a U.S. courtcould decide the case.Relying on the Prince ruling, Hallfiled suit in the District Court for the Districtof Columbia but the judge dismissedthe suit on the grounds of sovereign immunity.On appeal, the Circuit Courtfor the District of Columbia ruled thatcitizens have no right to sue a foreign statein American court without its consent.Facing a temporary dead-end, Hallsought other avenues toward justice. Hewent to Congress and began lobbying.In 1996, Congress responded and passedthe Antiterrorism and Effective DeathPenalty Act of 1996, which amended theForeign Sovereign Immunities Act toallow victims of state-sponsored terrorismto sue foreign states for damages inAmerican courts.In 2000, Hall won the lawsuit for ChadHall in the District Court for the Districtof Columbia, but the State Departmentconvinced President Bill Clinton to suspendjudicial process, essentially holdingthat the law and judgment did not count,Hall said.Hall went back to Congress and lobbiedfurther. Finally, in 2002, Congresspassed the Terrorism Risk InsuranceAct of 2002 that the judgments had tobe paid. Two American banks, Chase JPMorgan and The Bank of New York, heldIraq’s money, which was frozen whenIraq was declared a sponsor of terrorism.The banks were making money onIraq’s frozen assets and fought in court tokeep it, but Chad Hall was eventuallypaid in 2003.Chad Hall was awarded nearly $1.8million for the torture and loss of past andfuture wages. Because his marriage faileddue to Hall’s post-traumatic stress disordercaused by his kidnapping and torture,his ex-wife, Elizabeth Hall, was awarded$1.5 million for loss of consortium.For Andrew Hall, the experiences ofhis early childhood made the court victoryagainst terrorism feel especially good.Hall, 19xxTHE HOLOCAUSTAndrew Hall was born in a coal cellar inWarsaw, Poland, in September of 1944to parents who were Polish Jews hidingfrom the Nazis.FALL 2008 23