The extent of corporate liability for alleged human rights abuses committed abroad under the Alien Tort Claims Act is currently being tested in the Northern District of Alabama. The plaintiffs in Estate of Rodriquez v. Drummond Company, Inc., No. CV-02-0665-W (N.D. Ala. 2002), allege that Alabama-based mining company Drummond Ltd. ("Drummond") was complicit in the murders of three union leaders at a Drummond-owned coal mine in Columbia. After surviving first a motion to dismiss, and later a motion for summary judgment, the parties began trial on July 9, 2007, to determine whether Drummond aided and abetted the murders of three union leaders by Columbian paramilitaries. As discussed more fully below, the case presents a unique opportunity to test the extent of corporate liability under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), a federal statute originally passed in 1789, which provides a private right of action to aliens for violations of international law. Significantly, the Drummond case is
