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Cargill, Inc. v. John Doe I, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 17-55435 · judgment July 5, 2019

Decided · June 17, 2021

Pre-decision estimate: 37% cert probability (95% interval 30%–44%)

Before the decision, about 8.9× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a Ninth Circuit decision below, and a circuit split argued in the petition.

Questions presented

Consolidated with 19-416. Petitioner Cargill, Incorporated, purchases cocoa beans grown in Cote d'Ivoire. Respondents are Malian citizens who allege that, when Respondents were under the age of fourteen, Ivorian cocoa farmers subjected them to forced labor and other abuses in violation of international law. Respondents filed this putative class action under the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1350, claiming that Cargill aided and abetted the farmers' violations of international law by purchasing cocoa from and providing financial assistance to Ivorian cocoa farmers. The questions presented are:

Whether the presumption against extraterritorial application of the Alien Tort Statute is displaced by allegations that a U.S. company generally conducted oversight of its foreign operations at its headquarters and made operational and financial decisions there, even though the conduct alleged to violate international law occurred in-and the plaintiffs' suffered their injuries in-a foreign country.
Whether a domestic corporation is subject to liability in a private action under the Alien Tort Statute.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Andrew John Pincus
Mayer Brown LLP

For respondent
Paul Lindsey Hoffman
SSHHZ LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 4 conferences

Amicus briefs
6 cert-stage

Related
Vide, 19-416

Argument & decision

Argued December 1, 2020 — Neal K. Katyal · Paul L. Hoffman. Audio and transcript

Decided June 17, 2021.

Proceedings

Aug 02 2021
Motion to Tax Cost Award and Waive Costs for Indigent Respondents of John Doe I, et al. not accepted for filing. (August 26, 2021 - duplicate submission. See 19-416.)
Jul 19 2021
JUDGMENT ISSUED.
Jun 17 2021
Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Thomas, J., announced the judgment of the Court and delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I and II, in which Roberts, C. J., and Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, JJ., joined, and an opinion with respect to Part III, in which Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, JJ., joined. Gorsuch, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which Alito, J., joined as to Part I, and in which Kavanaugh, J., joined as to Part II. Sotomayor, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which Breyer and Kagan, JJ., joined. Alito, J., filed a dissenting opinion. VIDED.
Dec 01 2020
Argued. For petitioners: Neal K. Katyal, Washington, D. C.; and Curtis E. Gannon, Deputy Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. (for United States, as amicus curiae.) For respondents: Paul L. Hoffman, Hermosa Beach, Cal. VIDED.
Oct 27 2020
CIRCULATED
Oct 08 2020
Record requested from the U.S.C.A. 9th Circuit.
Oct 08 2020
Record received from the U.S.C.A. 9th Circuit is electronic and located on PACER.
Sep 16 2020
SET FOR ARGUMENT on Tuesday, December 1, 2020. VIDED.
Jul 02 2020
Petition GRANTED. The petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 19-416 is granted. The cases are consolidated, and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument. VIDED.
Jul 02 2020
Because the Court has consolidated these cases for briefing and oral argument, future filings and activity in the cases will now be reflected on the docket of No. 19-416. Subsequent filings in these cases must therefore be submitted through the electronic filing system in No. 19-416. Each document submitted in connection with one or more of these cases must include on its cover the case number and caption for each case in which the filing is intended to be submitted. Where a filing is submitted in fewer than all of the cases, the docket entry will reflect the case number(s) in which the filing is submitted; a document filed in all of the consolidated cases will be noted as “VIDED.”
Jun 29 2020
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 7/1/2020.
Jun 09 2020
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/25/2020.
May 26 2020
Brief amicus curiae of United States filed. VIDED.
Jan 13 2020
The Solicitor General is invited to file a brief in this case expressing the views of the United States.
Dec 23 2019
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/10/2020.
Dec 23 2019
Reply of petitioner Cargill, Incorporated filed. (Distributed)
Dec 17 2019
Letter waiving the 14-day waiting period for distribution of the petition under to Rule 15.5 filed.
Dec 12 2019
Brief of respondents John Doe I, et al. in opposition filed.
Nov 19 2019
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including December 12, 2019.
Nov 14 2019
Motion to extend the time to file a response from December 4, 2019 to December 12, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
Nov 04 2019
Response Requested. (Due December 4, 2019)
Oct 30 2019
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/15/2019.
Oct 28 2019
Brief amicus curiae of The Coca-Cola Company filed. VIDED.
Oct 28 2019
Brief amicus curiae of Washington Legal Foundation filed. VIDED
Oct 28 2019
Brief amicus curiae of Chevron Corporation filed. VIDED.
Oct 28 2019
Brief amici curiae of The Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al. filed. VIDED.
Oct 28 2019
Brief amici curiae of The National Confectioners Association, et al. filed. VIDED.
Oct 25 2019
Waiver of right of respondents John Doe I, et al. to respond filed.
Oct 23 2019
Blanket Consent filed by Respondents, John Doe I, et al.VIDED
Oct 02 2019
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 4, 2019)