No. 09-1298October Term 2009Decided Sep 28, 2010
General Dynamics Corp. v. United States
The U.S. government sued defense contractors for breach of contract, but the contractors could not defend themselves without revealing classified information.
Case status
- Current stage
- Decided
- Latest event
- Decision released Sep 28, 2010
- What it's about
The U.S. government sued defense contractors for breach of contract, but the contractors could not defend themselves without revealing classified information. The Supreme Court ruled that when the state secrets privilege prevents a contractor from raising a valid defense, the courts must dismiss the case and leave the parties where they were.
Question presented
Can the government sue a federal contractor for breach of contract then use the state secrets doctrine to prevent the contractor from raising a defense that would require the contractor to disclose secret information?
- Case path
Decision released Sep 28, 2010
- Area
Business and Regulation
Timing
Decided September 28, 2010
The Court released its decision on September 28, 2010 without hearing oral argument.
Documents
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Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary-source trail available.
- Note
- Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Jul 25, 2026
- Method
- Methodology