Supreme Court of the United States / October Term 2012

Steven Alan Levin, Petitioner v. United States et al.

Decided March 4, 2013. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 11-1351 · 568 U.S. 503 (2013) · Cited 160 times

Holding

The Gonzalez Act direction in § 1089(e) abrogates the FTCA’s intentional tort exception and therefore permits Levin’s suit against the United States alleging medical battery by a Navy doctor acting within the scope of his employment.

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.

Majority · 9

Ruth Bader Ginsburg · delivered the opinion of the Court
Anthony McLeod Kennedy
Antonin Scalia
Clarence Thomas
Elena Kagan
John Glover Roberts Jr.
Samuel A. Alito Jr.
Sonia Sotomayor
Stephen Gerald Breyer

“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.

United States v. Smith · 499 U.S. 160 (1991)
Richards v. United States · 369 U.S. 1 (1962)
Barnhart v. Sigmon Coal Co. · 534 U.S. 438 (2002)
United States v. Fausto · 484 U.S. 439 (1988)
Moskal v. United States · 498 U.S. 103 (1990)
Dolan v. United States Postal Service · 546 U.S. 481 (2006)
United States v. Shearer · 473 U.S. 52 (1985)
United States v. Neustadt · 366 U.S. 696 (1961)
Federal Aviation Administration v. Cooper · 566 U.S. 284 (2012)

Cited by

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

Millbrook v. United States · 569 U.S. 50 (2013)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2013). 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).