ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Alien Tort Statute

So, imagine you're playing with your toys and you accidentally break one of your friend's toys. Your friend is upset and wants you to help fix their toy. That's kind of like what the Alien Tort Statute is all about, but with grown-ups and countries instead of toys.

You see, sometimes a person or a company from one country does something bad to someone from another country. Like they might do something that hurts the people or the environment in that other country. The Alien Tort Statute is a rule that says that the person or company that did the bad things can be sued in the United States, even if the bad things happened in another country.

This helps protect people's rights and hold bad actors accountable for the harm they cause. It's like if your friend's toy was really expensive and they needed help fixing it, they might ask a grown-up or a bigger kid to help them. In the same way, people who are hurt by someone from another country might ask for help from a court in the United States to make things right.