WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is debating how a foreign country can be told: You’ve been sued.
The justices on Wednesday questioned whether mailing notice of a lawsuit to the country’s D.C. embassy works. The alternative in the case is requiring notice be mailed to an official in the foreign country itself. It wasn’t clear how the justices would rule.
The case the court was considering stems from the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen. A group of sailors injured in the attack and several of their spouses later sued Sudan. They argued that Sudan had provided support to al-Qaida, which claimed responsibility for the attack.
Notice of the lawsuit went to Sudan’s embassy in Washington. Sudan says that’s not sufficient and wants a $315 million judgment against it overturned.
