Daniel Girmai Negusie v. Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General

Decided March 3, 2009. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 07-499 · 555 U.S. 511 (2009) · Cited 322 times

Holding

The BIA and Fifth Circuit misapplied Fedorenko as mandating that whether an alien is compelled to assist in persecution is immate rial for prosecutor-bar purposes.

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 8–1.

“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.

• Fedorenko v. United States · 449 U.S. 490 (1981)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca · 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Aguirre-Aguirre · 526 U.S. 415 (1999)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Ventura · 537 U.S. 12 (2002)
• Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 467 U.S. 837 (1984)
• Gonzales v. Thomas · 547 U.S. 183 (2006)
• Russello v. United States · 464 U.S. 16 (1983)
• National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. v. Brand X Internet Services · 545 U.S. 967 (2005)
• Clark v. Martinez · 543 U.S. 371 (2005)
• Zadvydas v. Davis · 533 U.S. 678 (2001)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. St. Cyr · 533 U.S. 289 (2001)
• Lorillard v. Pons · 434 U.S. 575 (1978)
• Barnhart v. Walton · 535 U.S. 212 (2002)
• K Mart Corp. v. Cartier, Inc. · 486 U.S. 281 (1988)
• Barnhart v. Sigmon Coal Co. · 534 U.S. 438 (2002)
• National Labor Relations Board v. United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 23 · 484 U.S. 112 (1987)
• United States v. Mead Corp. · 533 U.S. 218 (2001)
• Morissette v. United States · 342 U.S. 246 (1952)
• Lamie v. United States Trustee · 540 U.S. 526 (2004)
• Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance v. Russell · 473 U.S. 134 (1985)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Abudu · 485 U.S. 94 (1988)
• Florida Power & Light Co. v. Lorion · 470 U.S. 729 (1985)
• Varity Corp. v. Howe · 516 U.S. 489 (1996)
• Amoco Production Co. v. Village of Gambell · 480 U.S. 531 (1987)
• Transamerica Mortgage Advisors, Inc. v. Lewis · 444 U.S. 11 (1979)
• Pennsylvania Department of Corrections v. Yeskey · 524 U.S. 206 (1998)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Morton v. Ruiz · 415 U.S. 199 (1974)
• Reves v. Ernst & Young · 507 U.S. 170 (1993)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Hearst Publications, Inc. · 322 U.S. 111 (1944)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Moncrieffe v. Holder · 569 U.S. 184 (2013)
• Zadvydas v. Davis · 533 U.S. 678 (2001)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2009). 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).