Richard Will, et al. v. Susan Hallock, et al.

Decided January 18, 2006. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 04-1332 · 546 U.S. 345 (2006) · Cited 526 times

Holding

A refusal to apply the Federal Tort Claims Act’s judgment bar is not open to collateral appeal.

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.

• Digital Equipment Corp. v. Desktop Direct, Inc. · 511 U.S. 863 (1994)
• Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics · 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
• Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp. · 337 U.S. 541 (1949)
• Nixon v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 731 (1982)
• Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority v. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc. · 506 U.S. 139 (1993)
• Mitchell v. Forsyth · 472 U.S. 511 (1985)
• Abney v. United States · 431 U.S. 651 (1977)
• Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay · 437 U.S. 463 (1978)
• Harlow v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 800 (1982)
• Behrens v. Pelletier · 516 U.S. 299 (1996)
• Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Risjord · 449 U.S. 368 (1981)
• Cobbledick v. United States · 309 U.S. 323 (1940)
• Midland Asphalt Corp. v. United States · 489 U.S. 794 (1989)
• Van Cauwenberghe v. Biard · 486 U.S. 517 (1988)
• Monge v. California · 524 U.S. 721 (1998)
• LAURO LINES s.r.l. v. Chasser · 490 U.S. 495 (1989)

Cited by

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

• Mohawk Industries, Inc. v. Carpenter · 558 U.S. 100 (2009)
• Simmons v. Himmelreich · 578 U.S. 621 (2016)
• Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela v. Helmerich & Payne Int'l Drilling Co. · 581 U.S. 170 (2017)
• Brownback v. King · 592 U.S. 209 (2021)
• Shoop v. Twyford · 596 U.S. 811 (2022)

Official text

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

Explore from here

David Hackett Souter’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2006). 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).