Liu v. SEC

Decided June 22, 2020. Sonia Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 18-1501 · 591 U.S. 71 (2020) · Cited 308 times

Holding

In a Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action, a disgorgement award that does not exceed a wrongdoer’s net profits and is awarded for victims is equitable relief permissible under 15 U. S. C. §78u(d)(5).

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. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

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.

• Tull v. United States · 481 U.S. 412 (1987)
• Root v. Railway Co. · 105 U.S. 189 (1882)
• Mertens v. Hewitt Associates · 508 U.S. 248 (1993)
• Porter v. Warner Holding Co. · 328 U.S. 395 (1946)
• Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance v. Knudson · 534 U.S. 204 (2002)
• Tilghman v. Proctor · 125 U.S. 136 (1888)
• Elizabeth v. Pavement Co. · 97 U.S. 126 (1878)
• Trump v. Hawaii · 585 U.S. 667 (2018)
• Feltner v. Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. · 523 U.S. 340 (1998)
• Alexander v. Sandoval · 532 U.S. 275 (2001)
• Correctional Services Corp. v. Malesko · 534 U.S. 61 (2001)
• Aetna Health Inc. v. Davila · 542 U.S. 200 (2004)
• J. I. Case Co. v. Borak · 377 U.S. 426 (1964)
• CIGNA Corp. v. Amara · 563 U.S. 421 (2011)
• Chauffeurs, Teamsters & Helpers Local No. 391 v. Terry · 494 U.S. 558 (1990)
• Grupo Mexicano De Desarrollo, S. A. v. Alliance Bond Fund, Inc. · 527 U.S. 308 (1999)
• Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center, Inc. · 575 U.S. 320 (2015)
• Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. · 572 U.S. 663 (2014)
• Missouri v. Jenkins · 515 U.S. 70 (1995)
• Bangor Punta Operations, Inc. v. Bangor & Aroostook Railroad · 417 U.S. 703 (1974)
• Wooden-Ware Co. v. United States · 106 U.S. 432 (1882)
• SCA Hygiene Products Aktiebolag v. First Quality Baby Products, LLC · 580 U.S. 328 (2017)
• Kokesh v. Sec. & Exch. Comm'n · 581 U.S. 455 (2017)
• Jackson v. Smith · 254 U.S. 586 (1919)
• Keystone Manufacturing Co. v. Adams · 151 U.S. 139 (1894)
• Guaranty Trust Co. v. York · 326 U.S. 99 (1945)
• Taggart v. Lorenzen · 587 U.S. 554 (2019)
• Montanile v. Board of Trustees of Nat. Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan · 577 U.S. 136 (2016)
• Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton · 587 U.S. 601 (2019)
• Boyle v. Zacharie & Turner · 31 U.S. 648 (1832)

Cited by

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

• Dewberry Group, Inc. v. Dewberry Engineers Inc. · 604 U.S. 321 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2020). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).