No suit on spy contract, says Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has come down with its biggest contract decision of the year the spy-contract case of Tenet v. Doe.

In a 9-0 opinion (with a concurrence by Stevens and Ginsburg and a concurrence by Scalia disagreeing with Stevens’s concurrence–do these folks have too much time on their hands?) the Chief Justice holds that the prior Civil War-era decision in Totten v. United States bars suits by spies claiming breach of contract when the government reneges.

The opinion is here, and the oral argument transcript is here.  Our previous post with links to the brief and some background on the Totten case is here.