Columbia Human Rights Law Review, Spring 2001 (32 Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 517)

This article explores the process and challenges of safeguarding anonymous plaintiffs who sue under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), such as in Doe v. Unocal. The article highlights the tension between certain plaintiffs' compelling need for confidentiality and the U.S. judicial system's tradtional emphasis on openness and defendants' rights. After reviewing the history and legal as well as policy issues surrounding anonymous litigation in U.S. federal court, the article surveys the procedural steps plaintiffs follow when seeking to sue with pseudonyms and discusses the use of court-structured protective orders. To demonstrate the complexities of anonymous litigation, the article examines two case studies based on real, ongoing litigation. The article concludes that despite the challenges, federal courts' willingness to grant anonymity to some plaintiffs is both justified and just, and that in the ATCA context such willingness helps facilitate adjudication of international human rights abuses and deter future violations.

Pseudonymity and the Alien Tort Claims Act

Documents: 

Psuedonymity and the ATCA