Supreme Court Bars New ATS Causes of Action and Limits TVPA Liability in Cisco v. Doe
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Plain-English Summary
Plaintiffs alleged Cisco and two executives aided Chinese persecution of religious believers and sued under the Alien Tort Statute and the Torture Victim Protection Act. The Ninth Circuit had found aiding‑and‑abetting liability viable under both statutes. The Supreme Court reversed, ruling courts may not craft new ATS causes of action and the TVPA contains no aiding‑and‑abetting provision. The decision leaves Cisco and its executives immune from the asserted claims.
Legal Question
The case presented two precise questions: (1) Whether a federal court may create a new cause of action for aiding and abetting violations of international law under the Alien Tort Statute, invoking the two‑step Sosa framework; and (2) Whether the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 authorizes liability for individuals who aid and abet torture, despite the statute’s silence on that form of liability.
Holding
The Court held, in a 6‑4 decision, that courts may not create new causes of action for violations of international norms under the ATS and that the TVPA does not provide an aid‑and‑abetting cause of action. Justice Barrett wrote for the majority, joined by Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh. Justice Jackson filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, joined by Kagan. Justice Sotomayor filed a dissent, joined by Kagan and Jackson on Parts I–III and V.
Reasoning
The majority began by recalling Sosa v. Alvarez‑Machain, which limited ATS claims to norms with "definite content and acceptance among civilized nations" and required "great caution" in creating new rights. It noted that Sosa’s second step was "narrow at the outset" and that subsequent cases (Jesner, Nestlé, Egbert, Ziglar) have treated judicially created ATS causes as a separation‑of‑powers violation. The Court emphasized that Congress, not courts, is tasked by Article I, §8, cl. 10 to define and punish offenses against the law of nations, and that creating such causes would "place great stress on the separation of powers." Regarding the TVPA, the Court applied the reasoning from Central Bank of Denver v. First Interstate Bank, which held that a statute must expressly mention aiding‑and‑abetting liability; the TVPA's language "subjects" does not, and the term requires a direct causal link, unlike the broader aiding‑and‑abetting doctrine recognized in Twitter v. Taamneh. Consequently, the Court concluded that both statutes lack the requisite language to impose liability on Cisco or its executives.
Broader Impact
The decision closes the narrow avenue left open by Sosa, preventing lower courts from inventing ATS causes of action in future human‑rights cases. It also bars plaintiffs from using the TVPA to pursue aiding‑and‑abetting claims, directing them to seek any remedy Congress may enact. Ninth Circuit precedent that allowed ATS aiding‑and‑abetting liability is now overruled, forcing circuits to dismiss similar claims. The ruling resolves a split on whether the TVPA covers indirect torturers, affirming a uniform interpretation that it does not. Future litigants must rely on statutes that expressly provide for indirect liability or await congressional action.
Sections beyond the plain-English summary are AI-synthesized analysis based on the available opinion excerpt from CourtListener, read, edited where needed, and approved by a human editor before publication. Full methodology: Editorial & Methodology.
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