Supreme Court Decision on ATS and TVPA Aiding and Abetting

In the 2026 case of Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Doe, the Supreme Court of the United States addressed whether American corporations and their executives could be held liable for aiding and abetting human rights abuses abroad. The plaintiffs, practitioners of Falun Gong, alleged that Cisco developed surveillance technology specifically designed to help the Chinese government identify and torture them. Justice Barrett, writing for the majority, reversed a lower court ruling by determining that the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) does not permit federal courts to create new causes of action for international law violations. The Court simultaneously ruled that the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) lacks the explicit language necessary to support aiding-and-abetting liability. In a sharp dissent, Justice Sotomayor argued that the decision effectively overrules established precedent and unjustly shields those who facilitate heinous acts from legal accountability. This landmark ruling significantly limits the ability of foreign and domestic plaintiffs to seek redress in U.S. courts for global atrocities.