US Supreme Court won't halt $655 million judgment

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor declined on Monday to halt $655.5 million in damages that Palestinian authorities were ordered to pay plaintiffs in a U.S. civil lawsuit concerning attacks that killed and injured Americans in Israel from 2002 to 2004.



Sotomayor denied a request by the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization to put on hold the judgment while they appeal a lower court's decision to revive the case years after it had been dismissed.



The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Americans killed or injured in those shootings and bombings in the Jerusalem area.



The US Supreme Court last year upheld a federal law that allowed claims like those brought by the plaintiffs in the case.



Sotomayor did not explain her decision and did not refer the case to the entire court.



Sotomayor handles emergency matters for cases arising from New York and certain other states.