W. S. Kirkpatrick & Co., Inc., et al. v. Environmental Tectonics Corp., International
Decided January 17, 1990. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 87-2066 · 493 U.S. 400 (1990) · Cited 278 times
Holding
The act of state doctrine does not apply because nothing in the present suit requires a court to declare invalid the official act of a foreign sovereign.
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
“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.
- Banco Nacional De Cuba v. Sabbatino · 376 U.S. 398 (1964)
- Underhill v. Hernandez · 168 U.S. 250 (1897)
- Oetjen v. Central Leather Co. · 246 U.S. 297 (1918)
- Continental Ore Co. v. Union Carbide & Carbon Corp. · 370 U.S. 690 (1962)
- Alfred Dunhill of London, Inc. v. Republic of Cuba · 425 U.S. 682 (1976)
- First National City Bank v. Banco Nacional De Cuba · 406 U.S. 759 (1972)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. · 561 U.S. 247 (2010)
- Carmell v. Texas · 529 U.S. 513 (2000)
- Republic of Austria v. Altmann · 541 U.S. 677 (2004)
- Stogner v. California · 539 U.S. 607 (2003)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Antonin Scalia’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1990). 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).