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On Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Hencely v. Fluor Corporation allowing a former soldier to sue a defense contractor under state law. It was a 6–3 ruling, but probably not 6 to 3 in the way you might expect. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority, joined not only by Trump appointees Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, but also by the three liberal justices. How this unusual coalition came together says a lot about how the remaining justices treat the federal government’s quest for unchecked foreign war powers.

The Fluor Corporation is a major defense contractor. The U.S. Army hired Fluor to help run a military base during the war in Afghanistan. One of Fluor’s responsibilities was to monitor local hires who worked on that base, including a man by the name of Ahmad Nayeb. When hired, Nayeb claimed to be a former member of the Taliban who had renounced the terrorist group. But that was a lie. In 2016 Nayeb engaged in a suicide bombing inside the U.S. base, killing five people and injuring more than a dozen others.

The attack would have been even worse had it not been for the intervention of 20-year-old Spc. Winston Hencely. Nayeb had been moving around the base suspiciously on that day. Hencely noticed this, and when he confronted Nayeb, the man detonated his vest. Although it was not Hencely’s job to monitor other employees on the base, his heroic instincts “likely prevent[ed] a far greater tragedy,” according to the Army’s subsequent investigation. Hencely survived the bombing but suffered serious skull and brain injuries.

After he returned home to South Carolina, Hencely sued Fluor Corp. for negligently failing to supervise Nayeb. Negligence is a classic state law claim that an employee might bring against an employer who fails to meet the standard of care: think of a construction worker suing their company after an........

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