Supreme Court Wipes Out Travel Ban Appeal

The New York Times reports:

The Supreme Court dismissed on Tuesday the last remaining appeal in a pair of cases challenging President Trump’s executive order, issued in March, that sought to limit travel to the United States.

The March order was replaced in September with broader restrictions, and they have already been blocked by federal district courts in Hawaii and Maryland. Tuesday’s dismissal mostly amounted to judicial housekeeping, clearing out challenges to the March order as the justices await eventual appeals from the one issued in September.

In its brief, unsigned disposition, the court said the March order had expired, making the case moot. “We express no view on the merits,” the court said.

But the Supreme Court did a little more than simply remove the case from its docket. It also vacated the decision under appeal, from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, meaning it cannot be used as a precedent.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, saying that she would have simply dismissed the case and allowed the appeals court decision to remain on the books.

The Ninth Circuit ruled in June that Mr. Trump had exceeded his statutory authority in limiting travel from six mostly Muslim countries and suspending the nation’s refugee program.

Erasing that precedent may have implications for the new challenge to the September order. Last week, in blocking the new order, Judge Derrick K. Watson, of the Federal District Court in Honolulu, relied heavily on the Ninth Circuit’s decision.

The work of President Derrick K. Watson in the news.