SUPREME COURT/TRAVEL BAN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday [4-25-18] signaled they are likely to uphold President Donald Trump’s travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries, one of the most contentious policies of his presidency. Both Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy, a frequent swing vote on the conservative-majority, nine-member court, indicated unwillingness to second-guess the president on the national security justifications offered for the policy. Trump has said the travel ban – the third version of a policy he first sought to implement a week after taking office in January 2017 – is needed to protect the United States from terrorism by Islamic militants. The current travel ban, announced in September, prohibits entry into the United States of most people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. The challengers, led by the state of Hawaii, have argued the policy was motivated by Trump’s enmity toward Muslims and that it violates federal immigration law and the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on the government favoring one religion over another. Liberal justices indicated sympathy toward Hawaii’s arguments. But conservative Justice Samuel Alito said the text of Trump’s proclamation announcing the ban ‘does not look at all like a Muslim ban.'”
-Lawrence Hurley, Andrew Chung, “U.S. Supreme Court leans toward upholding Trump’s travel ban,” Reuters, April 25, 2018 10:21 pm