Rafeh-Rafie Ardestani v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

Decided December 10, 1991. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 90-1141 · 502 U.S. 129 (1991) · Cited 656 times

Holding

Administrative deportation proceedings are not adversary adjudications “under section 554” and thus do not fall within the category of proceedings for which the EA JA has waived sovereign immunity and authorized the award of attorney’s fees and costs.

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 6–2.

“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.

• Sullivan v. Hudson · 490 U.S. 877 (1989)
• Marcello v. Bonds · 349 U.S. 302 (1955)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca · 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
• Wong Yang Sung v. McGrath · 339 U.S. 33 (1950)
• Richardson v. Perales · 402 U.S. 389 (1971)
• Irwin v. Department of Veterans Affairs · 498 U.S. 89 (1990)
• Consumer Product Safety Commission v. GTE Sylvania, Inc. · 447 U.S. 102 (1980)
• United States v. Kubrick · 444 U.S. 111 (1979)
• Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores · 421 U.S. 723 (1975)
• Commissioner, Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Jean · 496 U.S. 154 (1990)
• Richards v. United States · 369 U.S. 1 (1962)
• Transamerica Mortgage Advisors, Inc. v. Lewis · 444 U.S. 11 (1979)
• Rubin v. United States · 449 U.S. 424 (1981)
• Library of Congress v. Shaw · 478 U.S. 310 (1986)
• American Tobacco Co. v. Patterson · 456 U.S. 63 (1982)
• Ruckelshaus v. Sierra Club · 463 U.S. 680 (1983)
• United States v. James · 478 U.S. 597 (1986)
• Adams Fruit Co. v. Barrett · 494 U.S. 638 (1990)

Cited by

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

• Florida Department of Revenue v. Piccadilly Cafeterias, Inc. · 554 U.S. 33 (2008)
• Kucana v. Holder · 558 U.S. 233 (2010)
• Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd. v. Novo Nordisk A/s · 566 U.S. 399 (2012)
• Scarborough v. Principi · 541 U.S. 401 (2004)
• Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. · 568 U.S. 519 (2013)
• United States v. Nordic Village, Inc. · 503 U.S. 30 (1992)
• Cone v. Bell · 556 U.S. 449 (2009)
• Salinas v. United States · 522 U.S. 52 (1997)
• Pereira v. Sessions · 585 U.S. 198 (2018)
• United States v. Clintwood Elkhorn Mining Co. · 553 U.S. 1 (2008)
• Richlin Security Service Co. v. Chertoff · 553 U.S. 571 (2008)
• United States Department of Energy v. Ohio · 503 U.S. 607 (1992)
• Metropolitan Stevedore Co. v. Rambo · 521 U.S. 121 (1997)
• United States v. IDAHO Ex Rel. DIRECTOR, IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES · 508 U.S. 1 (1993)
• Campos-Chaves v. Garland · 602 U.S. 447 (2024)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1991). 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).