It's facially an ordinary case about standing. Standing that's absent here, so the declaratory claims get dismissed.
But, factually, it's about what you do when your citizens are kidnapped by hostile forces in a foreign country. As well as what their families can do in such a setting. Should you pay ransom? Should you allow -- or legally prevent -- the families from paying ransom? What should society, or a single person, do when the life of a loved one is at stake?
What an incredibly difficult question.
But one that the Ninth Circuit is not compelled to answer.
