Asid Mohamad, Individually and for the Estate of Azzam Rahim, Deceased, et al., Petitioners v. Palestinian Authority et al.
Decided April 18, 2012. Sonia Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 11-88 · 566 U.S. 449 (2012) · Cited 390 times
Holding
As used in the TVPA, the term “individual” encompasses only natural persons.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 9–0.
Majority · 8
- Sonia Sotomayor · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Antonin Scalia
- Clarence Thomas
- Elena Kagan
- John Glover Roberts Jr.
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Samuel A. Alito Jr.
Concurring · 1
- Stephen Gerald Breyer · filed a concurring opinion
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Astoria Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Solimino · 501 U.S. 104 (1991)
- Clinton v. City of New York · 524 U.S. 417 (1998)
- Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations, S. A. v. Brown · 564 U.S. 915 (2011)
- Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Services, Inc. · 545 U.S. 546 (2005)
- Ashcroft v. al-Kidd · 563 U.S. 731 (2011)
- Whitman v. American Trucking Assns., Inc. · 531 U.S. 457 (2001)
- United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
- Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain · 542 U.S. 692 (2004)
- Brown v. Gardner · 513 U.S. 115 (1994)
- Rodriguez v. United States · 480 U.S. 522 (1987)
- Milavetz, Gallop & Milavetz, P. A. v. United States · 559 U.S. 229 (2010)
- Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T Inc. · 562 U.S. 397 (2011)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC · 584 U.S. 241 (2018)
- Daimler AG v. Bauman · 571 U.S. 117 (2014)
- Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. · 569 U.S. 108 (2013)
- United States v. Woods · 571 U.S. 31 (2013)
- Mississippi Ex Rel. Hood v. AU Optronics Corp. · 571 U.S. 161 (2014)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
Sonia Sotomayor’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2012). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).