Families of US Citizens Killed in Drone Strikes Sue US Government for Worngful Death

Drone Victims' Kin Sue Government

WASHINGTON—Relatives of three U.S. citizens killed by drone strikes in Yemen are suing the U.S. government, saying the targeted-killing program violated the victims' constitutional rights to due process.

The wrongful-death lawsuit, filed Wednesday, is the first constitutional challenge to the drone program focusing on American deaths and is likely to reignite debate over one of the Obama administration's most controversial and effective counterterrorism weapons.

The suit also argues that the targeted-killing programs that hunt alleged terrorists in Yemen and elsewhere, outside clear-cut battlefields such as Afghanistan, violate international law.

The Americans killed were Anwar al-Awlaki, a New Mexico-born cleric who became a leader in al Qaeda's Yemen branch; Samir Khan, a naturalized citizen who ran the group's magazine; and Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, Mr. Awlaki's 16-year-old son who was born in Colorado.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444097904577535321940484032.html

A previous complaint to US citizens being on the kill list was dismissed for lack of standing. Now that they have been killed, that standing question should not be an issue. No doubt the courts will try to find another reason to stay out of it.