Havana Docks Corp. v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. · ¶66

Today the Court misconstrues the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act to allow plaintiffs to recover for trafficking in property that was not theirs. Title III of that Act provides that “any person” that “traffcs in property which was confscated by the Cuban Government on or after January 1, 1959, shall be liable to any United States national who owns the claim to such property.” 22 U. S. C. § 6082(a)(1)(A). The majority holds that because four commercial cruise lines used docks in the Port of Havana between 2016 and 2019, they can be held liable to Havana Docks Corporation, a U. S. company that built, operated, and once held a property interest in those docks. That may seem sensible at first blush. But there is a problem: The docks are not “property which was confscated by the Cuban Government” within the meaning of Title III. Why? Because the docks belonged to the Cuban…

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