Van Cauwenberghe v. Biard

Decided June 13, 1988. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-336 · 486 U.S. 517 (1988) · Cited 667 times

Holding

Neither an order denying a motion to dismiss on the ground that an extradited person is immune from civil process, nor an order denying such a motion on forum non conveniens grounds, is a collateral order subject to immediate appeal as a final judgment under 1291.

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.

• Mitchell v. Forsyth · 472 U.S. 511 (1985)
• Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp. · 337 U.S. 541 (1949)
• Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay · 437 U.S. 463 (1978)
• Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert · 330 U.S. 501 (1947)
• Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno · 454 U.S. 235 (1981)
• United States v. MacDonald · 435 U.S. 850 (1978)
• Catlin v. United States · 324 U.S. 229 (1945)
• International Shoe Co. v. Washington · 326 U.S. 310 (1945)
• Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz · 471 U.S. 462 (1985)
• Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital v. Mercury Construction Corp. · 460 U.S. 1 (1983)
• Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Risjord · 449 U.S. 368 (1981)
• Cobbledick v. United States · 309 U.S. 323 (1940)
• Richardson-Merrell Inc. v. Koller Ex Rel. Koller · 472 U.S. 424 (1985)
• Carroll v. United States · 354 U.S. 394 (1957)
• Williams v. Green Bay & Western Railroad · 326 U.S. 549 (1946)

Cited by

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

• Digital Equipment Corp. v. Desktop Direct, Inc. · 511 U.S. 863 (1994)
• Lauro Lines S.R.L. v. Chasser · 490 U.S. 495 (1989)
• Sinochem International Co. v. Malaysia International Shipping Corp. · 549 U.S. 422 (2007)
• Cunningham v. Hamilton County · 527 U.S. 198 (1999)
• Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority v. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc. · 506 U.S. 139 (1993)
• Behrens v. Pelletier · 516 U.S. 299 (1996)
• Mohawk Industries, Inc. v. Carpenter · 558 U.S. 100 (2009)
• Midland Asphalt Corp. v. United States · 489 U.S. 794 (1989)
• Quackenbush v. Allstate Insurance · 517 U.S. 706 (1996)
• Will v. Hallock · 546 U.S. 345 (2006)
• Hohn v. United States · 524 U.S. 236 (1998)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1988). 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).