Shameful wording in the agreement granting sovereignty to the Marshall Islands has allowed the United States to renege on an agreement to provide adequate compensation for damages caused by nuclear testing after World War II. The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed a federal judge's reluctant finding that the pact had stripped the courts of jurisdiction to rule in the case. At some point Congress should right this wrong.

In December 1947, the U.S. government chose the Marshalls' Bikini and Enewetak atolls as sites for nuclear testing and took away homes and lands of residents. The 1984 Compact of Free Association with the U.S. granting the Marshalls sovereignty included U.S. responsibility for the nuclear damage caused by the equivalent of 1.6 Hiroshima atomic bombs a day for 12 years.

The compact created an independent Nuclear Claims Tribunal, and the U.S. put $150 million into its trust fund in 1986. Congress took $45.75 million of it to award compensation. Recognizing the amounts were inadequate, the tribunal decided upon awards of $385.9 million to the people of Enewetak in 2000 and $563.3 million to those of Bikini a year later. However, only $1 million of that ended up being paid to residents of Enewetak and $2.3 million to those of Bikini.

The islanders brought suit in U.S. federal court for payment of the remainder, but the section of the compact relating to compensation says it “;does not commit the Congress of the United States to authorize and appropriate funds.”; It adds that “;no court of the United States shall have jurisdiction to entertain such claims,”; and all claims filed in court “;shall be dismissed.”; So much for the Fifth Amendment right to just compensation for property taken under American governance.

Judge Christine O.C. Miller of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims wrote in January 2009 that she had no choice but to reject the case, despite her “;sense of justice,”; which she added also “;recognizes that this court cannot act without jurisdiction.”; Thus, she wrote: “;In sum, this court cannot hear, let alone remedy, a wrong that is not within its power to adjudicate.”; The U.S. Supreme Court reached the same decision yesterday in rejecting the appeal without comment.

The case illustrates the way the government “;may evade the constitutional guarantee of just compensation ... by stripping the courts of jurisdiction over any claim that it has not provided just compensation for the taking,”; wrote Washington lawyer Paul Wolfson, representing the island residents.

This is not a court victory that the U.S. government should feel good about. After the economy improves, the U.S. should accept that it was achieved through trickery and make full amends to people who were driven from their islands.