Samantar v. Yousuf
Samantar v. Yousuf, 560 U.S. 305 (2010), is a decision by the United States Supreme Court concerning whether Muhammad Ali Samatar, prime minister of Somalia under dictator Siad Barre from 1987 to 1990, could be sued in United States courts for allegedly overseeing killings and other atrocities. Samatar now lives in Virginia, and some of his victims had sued him under the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991.
| Samantar v. Yousuf | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued March 3, 2010 Decided June 1, 2010 | |
| Full case name | Mohamed Ali Samantar, Petitioner v. Bashe Abdi Yousuf, et al. |
| Docket no. | 08-1555 |
| Citations | 560 U.S. 305 (more) 130 S. Ct. 2278; 176 L. Ed. 2d 1047 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Yousuf v. Samantar, 552 F.3d 371 (4th Cir. 2009); cert. granted, 557 U.S. 965 (2009). |
| Holding | |
| The FSIA, which provides that a “foreign state shall be immune from the jurisdiction” of both federal and state courts except as provided in the Act, 28 U. S. C. §1604, did not govern petitioner’s claim of immunity.[1] | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Stevens, joined by Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor |
| Concurrence | Alito |
| Concur/dissent | Thomas |
| Concur/dissent | Scalia |
| Laws applied | |
| Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 | |
In a previous decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that the former Somalian government official is not covered by, and therefore not entitled to immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. The Court remanded to District Court to determine whether defendant is entitled to common law immunity.
See also
- List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 560
- Jones v. Ministry of Interior for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (comparable 2006 decision of the House of Lords)
References
Further reading
- Liptak, Adam (March 3, 2010), "Supreme Court Weighs Lawsuit Over Torture in Somalia", New York Times.
- Liptak, Adam (June 1, 2010), "Mere Silence Doesn't Invoke Miranda, Justices Say", New York Times.
External links
- Text of Samantar v. Yousuf, 560 U.S. 305 (2010) is available from: CourtListener Justia Oyez (oral argument audio) Supreme Court (slip opinion)
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