Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp. v. Hoeper (571 U.S. 237)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 27, 2014 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 571 U.S. 237 · 134 S. Ct. 852
- Decided
- January 27, 2014
- Term
- October Term 2013
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Sotomayor
- Issue area
- First Amendment
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice SOTOMAYOR delivered the opinion of the Court. In 2001, Congress created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to assess and manage threats against air travel. Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), 49 U.S.C. § 44901 et seq. To ensure that the TSA would be informed of potential threats, Congress gave airlines and their employees immunity against civil liability for reporting suspicious behavior. § 44941(a). But this immunity does not attach to "any disclosure made with actual knowledge that the disclosure was false, inaccurate, or misleading" or "any disclosure made with reckless disregard as to the truth or falsity of that disclosure." § 44941(b). The question before us is whether ATSA immunity may be denied under § 44941(b) without a determination that a disclosure was materially false. We hold that it may not. Because the state courts made no such determination, and because any falsehood in the disclosure here would not have affected a reasonable security officer's assessment of the supposed threat, we reverse the judgment of the Colorado Supreme Court. I A William Hoeper joined Air Wisconsin Airlines Corporation as a pilot in 1998. But by late 2004, Air Wisconsin had stopped operating flights from Denver, Hoeper's home base, on any type of aircraft for which he was certified. To continue flying for Air Wisconsin out of Denver, Hoeper needed to…
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