# Opinion Summary: Cisco Systems v. Doe I | SCOTUS Blocks Aiding and Abetting Lawsuit

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-high-court-report-7304353/opinion-summary-cisco-systems-v-doe-i-scotus-blocks-aiding-and-abetting-lawsuit
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-high-court-report-7304353/opinion-summary-cisco-systems-v-doe-i-scotus-blocks-aiding-and-abetting-lawsuit.md
Podcast: [The High Court Report](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-high-court-report-7304353)
Published: 2026-06-25T09:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://thehighcourtreport.com//opinion-summary-cisco-systems-v-doe-i-scotus-blocks-aiding-and-abetting-lawsuit
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/397bba76-b1c4-45b3-b553-8d6f026a364f.mp3
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Duration seconds: 734

## Resource

PART 1: SHOW NOTES Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Doe I | Case No. 24-856 | Docket Link: https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/24-856.html | Argued: 04/28/2026 | Decided: 06/23/2026 Overview: The Supreme Court ended corporate accountability under two federal human-rights statutes, ruling that courts carry no authority to create new Alien Tort Statute lawsuits and that the Torture Victim Protection Act reaches only direct perpetrators — not their corporate enablers. Question Presented: Whether the ATS and TVPA authorize civil aiding-and-abetting liability against a U.S. technology company that allegedly helped a foreign government torture a religious minority. Posture: Ninth Circuit reversed dismissal and allowed aiding-and-abetting claims; Supreme Court granted certiorari January 9, 2026. Main Arguments: Cisco (Petitioner): (1) Post- Sosa and Egbert precedents stripped courts of authority to create any new ATS cause of action — that power belongs exclusively to Congress; (2) Central Bank forecloses implied civil aiding-and-abetting liability absent express statutory text; (3) TVPA's "subjects" covers command responsibility only — not remote corporate assistance far removed from custody or physical control of victims. Falun Gong Practitioners (Respondents): (1) Aiding-and-abetting violations of the law of nations itself violated international law at the Founding — the First Congress built that liability into the ATS; (2) Central Bank applied ordinary statutory interpretation, not a blanket clear-statement rule, and both statutes support aiding-and-abetting claims under that same analysis; (3) Congress chose the broad verb "subjects" over the narrower "commits" to reach secondary actors — legislative history confirms it. Holding: Federal courts carry no aut…

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