Samatar asserted that he was immune from responsibility under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. On June 1, 2010, in "Samantar v. Yousuf", the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that, although Samatar's argument was "literally possible," FSIA did not cover the issue of an official's claim to immunity. The lawsuit was consequently allowed to continue against Samatar. However, the justices added that Samatar might have recourse to common law claims of immunity when the matter was heard again by the lower courts. On remand, Samatar sought dismissal of the action based on head of state immunity and foreign official act immunity. In 2011, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia rejected these claims, denying the motion to dismiss. It ruled that "under international and domestic law, officials from other countries are not entitled to foreign official immunity for jus cogens violations, even if the acts were performed in the defendant's official capacity." In August 2012, a U.S. federal court ruled that Samatar should pay $21 million to the plaintiffs, with each to receive $1 million and $2 million in compensatory and punitive damages, respectively. However, Samatar was not required to pay the damages until bankruptcy proceedings concluded. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit later upheld this decision in November 2012. This was despite the fact that US President Barack Obama's administration had urged the court not to hear the lawsuit.