| Opati v. Republic of Sudan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued February 24, 2020 Decided May 18, 2020 | |
| Full case name | Monicah Okoba Opati, In Her Own Right, and as Executrix of the Estate of Caroline Setla Opati, Deceased, et al., Petitioners v. Republic of Sudan, et al. |
| Docket no. | 17-1268 |
| Citations | 590 U.S. 418 (more) 140 S. Ct. 1601 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Owens v. Republic of Sudan, 374 F. Supp. 2d 1 (D.D.C. 2005); 412 F. Supp. 2d 99 (D.D.C. 2006), affirmed, 531 F.3d 884 (D.C. Cir. 2008); cert. granted, 139 S. Ct. 2771 (2019). |
| Holding | |
| Plaintiffs in a federal cause of action under Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act §1605A(c) may seek punitive damages for preenactment conduct. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinion | |
| Majority | Gorsuch, joined by Roberts, Thomas, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor, Kagan |
| Kavanaugh took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
| Laws applied | |
| Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act | |
Opati v. Republic of Sudan, 590 U.S. 418 (2020), was a United States Supreme Court case involving the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act with its 2008 amendments, whether plaintiffs in federal lawsuits against foreign countries may seek punitive damages for cause of actions prior to enactment of the amended law, with the specific case dealing with victims and their families from the 1998 United States embassy bombings. The Court ruled unanimously in May 2020 that punitive damages can be sought from foreign nations in such cases for preenactment conduct.