espionage

Tenet v. Doe

 

During the Cold War, two Communist bloc diplomats agreed to conduct espionage for the Central Intelligence Agency in exchange for aid in defecting to the United States and the CIA's promise of lifetime financial assistance. The couple, suing under the names John and Jane Doe, complied with the CIA's requests and eventually the CIA settled them in the United States, provided them with falsified identities, and assisted John Doe in finding a job. In 1997, however, John Doe was laid off because of a corporate merger and was unable to find new work because of his falsified resume. The CIA refused to provide the Does with more financial assistance and denied their appeals within the agency. The Does sued the CIA in the District Court for the Western District of Washington. The CIA claimed that under Totten v. United States, a Civil-War-era Supreme Court case, the district court did not have jurisdiction over alleged secret contracts for espionage. The district court concluded that although it did not have jurisdiction over contract claims, it did have jurisdiction over constitutional and tort claims arising from the secret agreement between the Does and the CIA. The Ninth Circuit affirmed. Now the Supreme Court must take another look at Totten and decide whether or not that case prevents the Does from suing the CIA for tort and constitutional claims relating to the CIA's alleged obligations to the Does.

Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties

Whether Totten v. United States, 92 U.S. 105 (1875), bars a district court from considering respondents' due process and tort claims that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has wrongfully refused to keep its alleged promise to provide them with life-time financial assistance in exchange for their alleged espionage services to the CIA.

During the Cold War, John Doe and his wife Jane were diplomats for their former Soviet bloc nation. Resp. Brief, Nov. 17, 2004 (No. 03-1395), at 1—2. Seeking assistance in defecting to the United States, the Does contacted a person whom they knew to be connected to the United States embassy. Id. at 2.

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