Exxon Mobil Corporation, Exxon Chemical Arabia, Inc., and Mobil Yanbu Petrochemical Company, Inc. v. Saudi Basic Industries Corporation

Decided March 30, 2005. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 03-1696 · 544 U.S. 280 (2005) · Cited 4,974 times

Holding

The Rooker-Feldman doctrine is confined to cases of the kind from which it acquired its name: cases brought by state-court losers complaining of injuries caused by state-court judgments rendered before the federal district court proceedings commenced and inviting district court review and rejection of those judgments.

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.

“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.

• District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman · 460 U.S. 462 (1983)
• Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co. · 263 U.S. 413 (1924)
• Pennzoil Co. v. Texaco Inc. · 481 U.S. 1 (1987)
• Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
• Verizon Maryland Inc. v. Public Service Commission of Maryland · 535 U.S. 635 (2002)
• Atlantic Coast Line Railroad v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers · 398 U.S. 281 (1970)
• Asarco Inc. v. Kadish · 490 U.S. 605 (1989)
• Colorado River Water Conservation District v. United States · 424 U.S. 800 (1976)
• Railroad Comm'n of Tex. v. Pullman Co. · 312 U.S. 496 (1941)
• Burford v. Sun Oil Co. · 319 U.S. 315 (1943)
• Marrese v. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons · 470 U.S. 373 (1985)
• Doran v. Salem Inn, Inc. · 422 U.S. 922 (1975)
• England v. Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners · 375 U.S. 411 (1964)
• Howlett Ex Rel. Howlett v. Rose · 496 U.S. 356 (1990)
• Johnson v. De Grandy · 512 U.S. 997 (1994)
• Fishgold v. Sullivan Drydock & Repair Corp. · 328 U.S. 275 (1946)
• Martin v. Wilks · 490 U.S. 755 (1989)
• Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. v. Epstein · 516 U.S. 367 (1996)
• Parsons Steel, Inc. v. First Alabama Bank · 474 U.S. 518 (1986)

Cited by

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

• Lance v. Dennis · 546 U.S. 459 (2006)
• Reed v. Goertz · 598 U.S. 230 (2023)
• Lance v. Coffman · 549 U.S. 437 (2007)
• San Remo Hotel, L. P. v. City & County of San Francisco · 545 U.S. 323 (2005)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2005). 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).