Totten v. United States
1876 United States Supreme Court case / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Totten v. United States, 92 U.S. 105 (1876), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the court ruled on judicial jurisdiction in espionage cases.[1] The case was an important precursor to the court's 1953 decision in United States v. Reynolds wherein it recognized the State Secrets Privilege.[2] The case was later referenced and its holding expanded by the Court in the 2005 case of Tenet v. Doe and then again in General Dynamics Corp. v. United States. In Tenet, which involved a contract claim against the CIA brought by Cold War era spies, Court clarified that “Totten precludes judicial review in cases . . . where success depends upon the existence of their secret espionage relationship with the government.”[3] In General Dynamics, the Court held that the same logic applied outside the espionage context, with the limitation that “[b]oth parties—the government no less than petitioners—must have assumed the risk that state secrets would prevent the adjudication of claims of inadequate performance."[4]
Totten v. United States | |
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Decided April 10, 1876 | |
Full case name | Totten, Administrator, v. United States |
Citations | 92 U.S. 105 (more) 23 L. Ed. 605; 1876 U.S. LEXIS 1732; 2 Otto 105 |
Case history | |
Prior | Appeal from the Court of Claims |
Holding | |
The court deemed that an oral contract between a deceased spy and President Lincoln was unenforcable because the very process of consideration in a court might do harm by making public the details of a secret enterprise. | |
Court membership | |
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Case opinion | |
Majority | Field, joined by unanimous |