A Big Supreme Court Term Just Got Bigger
The Supreme Court agrees to hear challenges to Travel Ban 3.0
The current Supreme Court term is almost certain to be a blockbuster (at least it will be once the justices start issuing opinions). By the end of June, the Court is likely to have decided multiple cases on major constitutional issues, ranging from the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering and SEC administrative law judges to whether the First Amendment prohibits mandatory agency fees for public sector unions and protects a religious baker's refusal to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. Some have even called it a "term for the ages." (Okay, that was me.)
Today the Court added another case to its crowded docket: Trump v. Hawaii. In the Court's lone order issued today, the Justices accepted the Trump Administration's petition for certiorari seeking review of the prelimnary injunction granted by a district court in Hawaii against the Administration's third iteration of the so-called "Travel Ban" (aka "Travel Ban 3.0"). In granting the petition, the Court accepted all three questions presented by the government (whether the case is justiciable, whether the order was within the President's authority, and whether the lower court injunction was overbroad) as well as one question posed by the challengers: Whether the Trump Administration policy violates the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.
There is no word yet on when the Court will hear arguments in this case, or whether the Court will grant expedited review.
Meanwhile, the Trump Administration has also asked the Supreme Court to review a district court decision barring the Administration from suspending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. This is a longshot, as the Administration is seeking certiorari before judgment or any review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The administration's brief is here.