IMMIGRATION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/SUPREME COURT: “The Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a lower-court decision affording bail hearings to thousands of noncitizens held in federal lockups while they appeal deportation orders.
Voting 5-3 along ideological lines, the justices found that the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had stretched the reading of federal immigration law when it ruled that the noncitizens are entitled to seek bail every six months.
The decision, by Justice Samuel Alito, didn’t completely end the case, however. It allows the San Francisco-based appellate court to consider whether the Constitution’s prohibition on arbitrary detention requires that the aliens have some opportunity to seek parole while their cases, which can take years to resolve, move through the courts.
Ahilan Arulanantham, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who argued the aliens’ case, said he was ready to argue that the no-bail policy is unconstitutional…
The Justice Department welcomed the ruling, saying the bail hearings were burdensome and superfluous…
The case, Jennings v. Rodriguez, involves several categories of noncitizens the government seeks to deport, including some who entered the U.S. lawfully, as well as suspected illegal immigrants. They include lawful permanent residents—people who hold green cards—who have completed sentences for serious crimes and asylum seekers whose claims were denied.”
-Jess Bravin, “Supreme Court Overturns Rule Ensuring Noncitizen Bail Hearings,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 27, 2018 07:20pm