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SAUDI ARABIA v. NELSON

No. 91-522.

507 U.S. 349 (1993)

SAUDI ARABIA et al. v. NELSON et ux.

United States Supreme Court.

Decided March 23, 1993.

Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Everett C. Johnson, Jr., argued the cause for petitioners. With him on the briefs were Mark E. Newell and Marc Cooper.

Jeffrey P. Minear argued the cause for the United States as amicus curiae urging reversal. With him on the brief were Solicitor General Starr, Assistant Attorney General Gerson, Deputy Solicitor General Roberts, Douglas Letter, and Edwin D. Williamson.

Paul Schott Stevens argued the cause for respondents. With him on the brief were Leonard Garment, Abraham D. Sofaer, William R. Stein, and Anthony D'Amato.*

Souter, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Rehnquist, C. J., and O'Connor, Scalia, and Thomas, JJ., joined, and in which Kennedy, J., joined except for the last paragraph of Part II. White, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which Blackmun, J., joined, p. 364. Kennedy, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, in which Blackmun and Stevens, JJ., joined as to Parts I—B and II, p. 370. Blackmun, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part, p. 376. Stevens, J., filed a dissenting opinion, p. 377.

Justice Souter, delivered the opinion of the Court.

The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 entitles foreign states to immunity from the jurisdiction of courts in the United States, 28 U. S. C. § 1604, subject to certain enumerated exceptions. § 1605. One is that a foreign state shall not be immune in any case "in which the action is based upon a commercial activity carried on in the United States by the foreign state." § 1605(a)(2). We hold that...

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