 By 2014, the district court awarded the plaintiffs over $10 billion.Sudan, which had not appeared during the initial lawsuit, appealed the judgment, arguing it did not understand the US civil suit system, and did not understand the consequences of not appearing, but also challenged the retroactive nature of the 2008 change to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.The appeals court discounted Sudan's argument regarding its lack of understand, and still upheld them liable for the bombings, but ruled that the $4.3 billion of punitive damages were not allowed to be applied retroactively.