Wall Street Journal
By Jess Bravin
March 4, 2016
The
Supreme Court’s April sitting was announced Friday, setting its final
plans for arguments in the 2015-16 term. April, typically stocked with
significant appeals, features
blockbuster cases involving executive power, immigration and public
corruption.
The
justices kick off the sitting April 18 with arguments on President
Barack Obama’s immigration policy, which would temporarily allow
millions of illegal immigrants
who are parents of U.S. citizens or lawful residents to obtain work
permits, and more easily stay in the country. The policy, challenged by
Texas and Republican-leaning states, is currently on hold.
Of
particular interest in the appeal is an interesting question added by
the justices when they announced they would hear the case: whether, as
critics of the Obama administration
maintain, the immigration policy is so beyond what Congress has
authorized that it violates the president’s constitutional duty to “take
care that the laws be faithfully executed.”
Like
much before the court, the immigration case may take different contours
in the absence of Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February. The
conservative stalwart
had written opinions, both for the majority and in dissent, skeptical
of various powers asserted by the Obama administration, and he
frequently based his position on what he said was the original meaning
of the Constitution’s text.
With
four liberal justices expected to back broad federal authority over
immigration, the best Texas likely can hope for is an evenly divided
court if all conservatives
vote its way—something that can’t be convincingly predicted, based on
prior cases. That potentially leaves the administration’s policy
blocked, at least in the three states under the Fifth Circuit—Louisiana,
Mississippi and Texas—but possibly in force elsewhere.
The
court will end the April sitting on April 27 by hearing the appeal of
Bob McDonnell, the former Virginia governor who was convicted of
corruption charges after accepting
money and luxury gifts from a businessman seeking actions from the
state.
Mr.
McDonnell, a Republican who left office in 2014, was sentenced to two
years in prison. In August, the Supreme Court permitted him to remain
free while his appeal was
pending, an indication that the justices may have been inclined to
throw out one or more of the 11 counts against him.
April’s
high-profile blockbuster hearings will be preceded by a closely watched
argument slated for March 23, when it considers whether the Obama
administration has gone
far enough to exempt religiously affiliated organizations from
Affordable Care Act regulations requiring contraceptive coverage in
employee health plans.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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