HomeVideos

SCOTUS Blocks Rastafarian's Suit Against Prison Guards | Bloomberg Law

Now Playing

SCOTUS Blocks Rastafarian's Suit Against Prison Guards | Bloomberg Law

Transcript

909 segments

0:02

This is [music] Bloomberg Law with June

0:05

Graasso from Bloomberg Radio.

0:08

>> It is undisputed that my client has

0:10

alleged an assault that is just brazenly

0:12

illegal. Uh he was at respondents mercy

0:16

in federally funded custody when he

0:18

handed them a copy of controlling

0:19

precedent holding the RLupa protected

0:21

his right to keep his hair long. They

0:23

threw it away, handcuffed him to a chair

0:26

and shaved him bald. Damon Landor is a

0:28

devout Rastafarian who hadn't cut his

0:31

hair in two decades following his faith

0:34

in which dreadlocks are a sacred symbol.

0:37

So when he was transferred to a

0:38

Louisiana prison with just weeks left on

0:41

his 5mon sentence, Landor handed prison

0:44

guards a copy of an appeals court

0:47

decision holding that cutting religious

0:49

prisoners dreadlocks violated federal

0:52

law. But a guard threw the ruling into

0:54

the trash. And despite Landor's pleas,

0:58

he was handcuffed to a chair and held

1:00

down as his kneelength dreadlocks were

1:03

cut and his head was shaved. During oral

1:06

arguments, the Supreme Court justices

1:08

condemned Landor's treatment and the

1:11

blatant disregard of his religious

1:13

rights. Here's conservative justice Amy

1:15

Coney Barrett.

1:17

>> Look, the facts of this case are

1:18

egregious. So, if on the facts we were

1:21

looking for a case in which there should

1:22

be money damages, this is it. But it

1:25

turns out this case wasn't it. Today in

1:29

a six-to3 decision, the court's

1:31

conservative majority ruled that Landor

1:34

cannot sue the prison officials who cut

1:37

off his dreadlocks, finding that the

1:39

religious land use and institutionalized

1:42

persons act, better known as Raulupa,

1:44

can't be used to hold those who violate

1:47

inmates religious rights financially

1:49

responsible. The opinion was written by

1:52

Justice Neil Gorsuch, who telegraphed

1:54

that conclusion during the arguments.

1:57

>> The circuits are unanimously against you

1:59

and have been for many, many, many

2:01

years. So saying that something awful is

2:04

going to happen, it's all whatever's

2:06

happened has happened, right?

2:07

>> But the liberal justices disagreed. and

2:10

in a descent by Justice Katanji Brown

2:13

Jackson expressed concerns that now

2:16

state prison officials will have little

2:19

incentive to follow the law regarding

2:21

the religious rights of inmates. My

2:24

guest is Richard Garnett, a professor at

2:25

Notre Dame Law School and director of

2:28

the school's program on church, state,

2:30

and society. Rick, what's your reaction

2:33

to this decision and the implications of

2:36

this decision? The result in this case

2:39

and the Landor case is not surprising

2:43

given the way the oral arguments went.

2:45

It was clear that the justices or at

2:46

least a majority of them were very

2:49

focused on the federalism issues in this

2:51

case. And that's what makes this case

2:53

kind of tricky. It has a religious

2:54

freedom dimension for sure because the

2:57

facts involve a really shocking

2:59

violation of a prisoner's religious

3:01

freedom rights. But there's also this

3:02

kind of technical constitutional law

3:05

question about the power of Congress to

3:07

authorize certain kinds of lawsuits. And

3:09

so, you know, some of the reactions to

3:12

the case, I think, are misguided

3:13

[clears throat]

3:14

in the sense that I I've seen some

3:16

reports that, oh, this is just the court

3:17

not caring about a minority religion. I

3:19

think that's not the right way to think

3:21

about it. Um, you know, a group of the

3:23

justices, the six and the majority here,

3:25

have a pretty consistent vision of

3:27

federalism, and they believe that there

3:29

are limits on the federal government's

3:31

power to authorize certain kinds of

3:34

relief against state officials. Now, I

3:36

should confess, I filed a brief on the

3:37

side of the prisoner in this case. In my

3:39

view, the right answer was that this

3:41

action was authorized. But the reason

3:44

the court ruled against him in my view

3:46

was not because it was unbothered by the

3:49

egregiousness of this violation, but

3:51

because they just didn't think the

3:52

federal government had the power to

3:53

authorize the suit. So what this means,

3:55

in my opinion, among other things, is

3:57

that state governments need to really

3:59

step up and make sure they provide

4:01

meaningful relief for prisoners whose

4:04

religious liberty rights are violated by

4:06

officials as Mr. Landor's clearly were.

4:10

Raulupa was designed to protect the

4:12

religious rights of inmates. So why

4:15

doesn't it work for this inmate whose

4:18

religious rights were I mean everyone

4:20

agrees clearly and blatantly violated?

4:24

>> Yeah, this is and I apologize for

4:25

getting into the weeds a little bit, but

4:27

Raulupa is a special kind of statute.

4:29

It's authorized by what we call the

4:32

spending power, which means that it's

4:34

not so much a direct regulation as it is

4:37

a deal. The Congress says to the states,

4:39

"If you want this money, then you have

4:42

to agree to comply with this

4:45

understanding of religious liberty

4:46

rights." The wrinkle in this case is

4:48

that Mr. Landor wasn't suing the state.

4:51

He wasn't suing the state prison. He was

4:53

suing the the prison employee in that

4:56

employees personal capacity. So, you

4:58

know, you're not suing the prison.

4:59

You're suing, you know, Officer Jones.

5:02

And the thing is, Officer Jones never

5:04

took any federal money. So, he didn't

5:06

make this deal with the federal

5:08

government. So, according to the court,

5:09

since officer Jones, that's not his

5:11

name, I'm making that up, didn't make

5:13

the deal with the federal government,

5:15

that means that the federal statute

5:16

doesn't authorize a lawsuit against

5:19

Jones. And it's all based on these kind

5:21

of, you know, firstear law school

5:23

constitutional law debates about the

5:25

regulatory powers of Congress and how

5:28

much power Congress has to attach

5:30

strings to the money it spends. And

5:32

there's a long tradition of the court

5:33

saying, you know, there are limits on

5:35

the strings you can attach to money. So

5:37

again, nothing in today's opinion denies

5:40

that the officers behave badly and that

5:42

Mr. Landor's religious freedom was

5:44

violated. It's that the particular

5:46

relief that Landor was seeking, that's

5:49

a, you know, money damages lawsuit

5:50

against an individual wasn't authorized

5:53

by the statute or couldn't be authorized

5:55

by the statute. So the majority said

5:58

that state employees didn't consent to

6:00

face lawsuits in their personal

6:02

capacities when Congress passed Raula.

6:05

As a practical matter, when would an

6:08

employee willingly consent to be sued?

6:10

And Justice Katanji Brown Jackson in

6:12

descent said today's decision magically

6:15

transforms a federal statute into an

6:18

invitation to be accepted or declined

6:21

deemed binding only if each particular

6:24

defendant has explicitly agreed to be

6:26

penalized. I mean to the average person

6:29

the dcent makes sense.

6:30

>> Well and again I was on that side in the

6:32

end. I do think she oversimplifies the

6:34

federalism issue. There's plenty of

6:36

precedent to the effect that these

6:38

regulatory spending arrangements do

6:41

function kind of like a contract. That

6:43

said, in my view, the better ruling

6:45

would have been to say that when the

6:47

state entered into this effectively

6:50

contract with the federal government and

6:52

took on the burdens to respect the

6:54

religious liberty of inmates that

6:56

because these folks are the employees of

6:58

the state, those folks kind of take

7:00

employment subject to the requirements

7:03

that are laid on their employers. And

7:05

that includes what the statute calls

7:07

appropriate relief, which if you really

7:10

want to get in the weeds, that's kind of

7:11

what this case really came down to is

7:13

what counts as appropriate relief. So, a

7:15

concern that Justice Jackson raised and

7:17

that I share, even though I think she

7:19

oversimplifies a bit, is that, you know,

7:22

the incentives on state prison employees

7:26

to respect religious inmates rights,

7:29

those incentives are going to be muted a

7:31

bit if they're not subject to damages

7:34

for, you know, egregious violations. I

7:36

mean, this wasn't kind of a judgment

7:38

call, reasonable minds can disagree kind

7:40

of thing. It's very clear on the facts

7:41

of this case that Mr. Landor's rights

7:43

were again outrageously violated. And so

7:45

there's a concern and this is one of the

7:47

concerns that Justice Jackson raised and

7:49

that I share is that the effectiveness

7:51

of the statute which I mean as you said

7:54

earlier June the point of the whole

7:55

statute was to protect prisoners

7:57

religious freedom rights is going to be

7:59

weakened or undermined if that kind of

8:01

what do you want to call it stick is uh

8:03

is pulled away.

8:04

>> Could Landor have sued the state and the

8:07

state prison system?

8:08

>> Yeah. So this is about a particular

8:10

cause of action and you know there are

8:12

almost certainly other ones that in

8:14

theory could have been available to him

8:16

and you know again my my hope is that

8:18

some states will respond by making sure

8:21

that they create additional causes of

8:24

action for prisoners like this. But you

8:25

know there's a tendency and we all we're

8:26

all familiar with it that it's easy to

8:28

kind of lose sight of prisoners and

8:30

their rights. You know out of sight out

8:33

of mind we tend to other our prisoners.

8:35

But it isn't it isn't the case that this

8:37

decision means that Landor would never

8:40

have any relief for this kind of

8:41

violation. The decision is limited to

8:44

relief under this particular statute.

8:45

>> The court in 2020 allowed Muslim men to

8:49

sue over their inclusion on the FBI's

8:51

nofly list under a sister statute, the

8:55

Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

8:57

Explain why the same reasoning didn't

8:59

apply here.

9:01

>> Yeah, this is an important distinction

9:02

or at least it was to the court. So, the

9:04

Religious Freedom Restoration Act is not

9:07

a spending power statute. It's a statute

9:09

that rests on Congress's power to

9:12

enforce the 14th amendment and it's a

9:15

statute that only applies to the federal

9:17

government. Raulupa is on the one hand

9:20

much broader. It applies to not only the

9:23

federal government but the states. On

9:24

the other hand, it's also narrower

9:26

because the basis for it, the

9:28

justification for the Raulupa statute is

9:30

this spending power and the lines of

9:32

doctrine about Congress's power under

9:34

the 14th amendment are just different

9:37

from the lines of precedent about

9:39

Congress's power under the spending

9:40

clause. And again, I know this is really

9:42

the kind of thing that makes normal

9:43

people's eyes glaze over. So, I

9:45

apologize to anybody who's listening to

9:46

it, but but for legal purposes, it

9:48

really does make a difference which

9:50

power a Congress is using. And with

9:52

Raulupa, because it was only applying to

9:54

the federal government, these federalism

9:56

concerns are not in play. Congress is

9:58

perfectly within its rights to subject

10:00

the federal government to various

10:02

standards of liability and to create

10:04

causes of action against the federal

10:05

government. But because we have a

10:06

federalist system, it's more complicated

10:08

when Congress imposes standards on the

10:11

states and that's what explains the

10:13

difference.

10:13

>> Can you explain why this would be a, you

10:15

know, there was an ideological split,

10:17

why it would be a conservative liberal

10:19

split on this? Again, this is

10:21

generalizing with these labels and so

10:23

on, but it tends to be the case that the

10:25

conservatives are more interested in

10:27

federalism, and it tends to be the case

10:29

that the liberals are more friendly to

10:33

Congress's power to create causes of

10:35

action. What divided the court was not

10:38

the importance of religious freedom. I

10:39

mean, you know, a couple years ago, we

10:41

had a case involving a Muslim prisoner

10:43

who wanted to grow a beard, and it was 9

10:44

to zero. uh everybody agreed on the

10:47

importance of that under Raulupa, but

10:49

there was no question about federalism

10:50

in that case because the cause of action

10:52

wasn't against uh the person in his

10:55

individual capacity. It was against the

10:57

prison system. So the justices, you

10:59

know, whether they're appointed by

11:01

Democrats or Republicans, they all agree

11:03

that the religious freedom rights of

11:05

prisoners are important, but divided

11:06

them here were these, you know, issues

11:08

that divide them in lots of cases.

11:10

again, debates about federal power and

11:12

debates about the ability to create

11:14

causes of action.

11:15

>> We've talked before that, you know,

11:17

there's been a string of victories for

11:19

religious liberty. Is this the first in

11:22

a long time where there was a defeat,

11:24

you might say, for religious interests?

11:26

>> I'm thinking out loud here, it is the

11:28

first in a while. So certainly religious

11:31

freedom claimants have done well with

11:34

this court. Now, I suppose some might

11:36

say, for example, that when a claimant

11:39

filed a lawsuit against the War Memorial

11:42

Cross in the American Legion case that

11:44

they were seeking to vindicate their

11:45

religious freedom and they lost. But I

11:47

think it's certainly true that this

11:49

court has been friendly to religious

11:50

freedom claims. But, you know, I can't

11:52

think of any of those claims that

11:54

involved the same federalism concerns

11:56

that this one did. Probably the last

11:58

case I can think of where the religious

12:00

freedom claimants lost was Trump versus

12:03

Hawaii, which was a challenge to the

12:04

so-called Muslim ban that the Trump

12:06

administration had put into place early

12:08

in its first administration, I think.

12:10

>> Thanks so much for your insights today,

12:12

Rick. That's Professor Richard Garnett

12:14

of Notre Dame Law School. Coming up next

12:17

in another 6 to3 decision, the court

12:19

sides with the Trump administration on

12:22

green card holders. This is Bloomberg.

12:27

The Supreme Court sided with the Trump

12:29

administration today in an immigration

12:32

case dealing with the government's power

12:34

over green card holders returning to the

12:37

country. The 6 to3 decision down

12:39

ideological lines centered on an

12:42

immigration officer's decision to put a

12:45

green card holder on immigration parole

12:48

when he returned from a short trip to

12:50

China because he'd been accused of a

12:52

thirdderee trademark counterfeiting

12:54

crime. The conservative majority in an

12:57

opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas

13:00

reversed the second circuit court of

13:02

appeals and said that the immigration

13:04

and nationality act doesn't require

13:07

border officers to establish by clear

13:10

and convincing evidence that the green

13:13

card holder had committed a crime

13:14

involving moral turpitude. While the

13:17

dissenting liberal justices in an

13:19

opinion written by Justice Katanji Brown

13:22

Jackson said that the decision

13:24

effectively sentences the green card

13:26

holder to immigration limbo before he'd

13:30

been convicted of any crime. Joining me

13:32

is Leon Fresco, a partner at Holland

13:35

Knight and the former head of the office

13:36

of immigration litigation in the Obama

13:39

administration. Leon, will you start

13:41

with the basics about green card holders

13:45

and what happens when they re-enter the

13:48

country?

13:48

>> Sure. So, here is what happens when a

13:52

person obtains a green card or what is

13:55

also known as lawful permanent residence

13:57

in the United States. The common

14:00

conception is that that person can just

14:02

stay permanently in the United States

14:04

and if they want to become a citizen,

14:06

they can become a citizen. But if they

14:08

don't want to become a citizen for

14:09

whatever reason, maybe if they're from a

14:11

country that they'll lose their

14:13

citizenship from there, so they don't do

14:15

it, then that's fine, too. But that's

14:17

actually not true. There are ways you

14:19

can lose your green card. And one of the

14:23

ways you can lose your green card is if

14:25

you commit a criminal offense that is a

14:28

deportable offense. So what happens is a

14:31

lot of times people don't realize these

14:35

sort of interplays between the green

14:37

card law and the immigration law until

14:39

they travel outside of the United

14:41

States. And so here's what happens when

14:43

you travel outside the United States.

14:45

When you travel outside of the United

14:47

States and you try to reenter, you show

14:50

your green card to the Customs and

14:53

Border Protection official who is at the

14:56

airport. And 99 out of 100 times that's

15:00

not a big deal. They swipe your green

15:02

card and they let you in the country.

15:04

But what the law says is that if you in

15:09

the intervening time that you traveled

15:12

or we didn't realize it before and now

15:15

we're just realizing it for the first

15:17

time that you committed some sort of

15:20

criminal offense, then it's not a taken

15:23

forranted thing that you just reenter

15:26

the United States with your green card.

15:28

What they basically say in the statute

15:31

is you start from scratch again having

15:34

to prove that you are entitled to be

15:38

admitted in the United States. And so

15:41

the question in this Supreme Court case

15:44

is what happens in a world where the

15:47

person was accused of the crime and in

15:51

this case it was a crime of trademark

15:53

counterfeiting. because a Chinese

15:55

citizen who was charged with trademark

15:57

counterfeiting. So what happens when

15:59

it's a person who's charged with a crime

16:02

but not convicted of a crime? And so if

16:06

this person had never left the United

16:08

States, they could never be placed into

16:11

deportation proceedings unless and until

16:15

they actually were convicted of the

16:19

crime. the charging wouldn't change

16:21

anything because if they were innocent

16:23

then that would not lead to any

16:26

deportation. But this issue did not

16:30

arise with the person just staying in

16:32

the United States. This arose where a

16:35

person becomes a lawful permanent

16:36

resident in 2007. They get charged for

16:40

the crime in May of 2012. they leave the

16:45

United States and then try to re-enter

16:49

the United States while the charge was

16:52

pending. And so at that point, the

16:55

Customs and Border Protection says,

16:58

"Look, in this situation, you don't get

17:01

the presumption that you are a lawful

17:03

permanent resident who just gets to

17:06

reenter the United States. We treat you

17:08

like everybody else who if you are

17:12

charged with a crime don't get to just

17:16

enter scot-free. So what we're going to

17:18

do is yes, we'll let you enter because

17:21

you do have this green card, but we're

17:23

not going to let you enter as a lawful

17:25

permanent resident. We're going to enter

17:26

you in as a parole e. And that way when

17:32

we try to deport you, if you try to use

17:35

your lawful permanent residency as a

17:39

defense to deportation,

17:42

you will have the burden of proof to

17:45

show that you're not deportable as

17:47

opposed to the government having the

17:49

burden of proof to show that you are

17:51

deportable. And so that's what happened

17:54

here.

17:55

This was an appeal from a second circuit

17:57

decision, but there's a split in the

17:59

circuits on this issue. Probably one of

18:02

the reasons why the court took this

18:03

case. So, there was a circuit split

18:06

between the second circuit who had ruled

18:08

in favor of the foreign national and

18:11

previous decisions from the fifth and

18:13

the ninth circuit that said, "Hey, wait

18:15

a second. In these cases, why doesn't

18:18

the border patrol that's at the airport,

18:22

why don't they have to do exactly the

18:24

same thing an immigration judge would

18:26

have to do if this person had never left

18:28

the United States, which is essentially

18:31

wait to see if they're convicted of the

18:34

crime before they strip someone of their

18:37

lawful permanent residency. So that's

18:39

what the second circuit said. The

18:41

government appealed that decision

18:43

because they didn't want to shortcut the

18:47

ability of the border patrol to find

18:50

people with criminal issues at the

18:51

airport and place them in removal

18:53

proceedings. They view that as an

18:55

important safeguard for America that you

18:58

know it's we don't think about people

19:00

until they try to reenter. That's a good

19:02

sort of like reminder. Hey, this person

19:05

exists. Let's check their background.

19:07

And so they like that that reminder

19:09

exists in the system. And so they ask

19:12

for a Supreme Court review. And when the

19:14

government asks for a Supreme Court

19:15

review, they usually get it. And in this

19:18

case, it turns out the Supreme Court

19:19

held today 6 to3 that yes, Customs and

19:23

Border Protection at the airport does

19:25

not have to actually put you through

19:29

sort of a little mini hearing or wait

19:31

until you're actually convicted of a

19:33

crime. They are more than capable or

19:36

legally able to now after this decision

19:39

take someone who's been charged of a

19:41

crime but not convicted of a crime and

19:44

conditionally allow them in the country

19:46

with what's called a parole which is

19:48

just basically a legal fiction that even

19:51

though your body's in the US your legal

19:53

body is still waiting to see what will

19:56

happen after a hearing and so they said

19:59

they can do that and then at the time of

20:02

the immigration court hearing. Now, the

20:05

burden will be on the foreign national

20:07

to prove that they shouldn't be deported

20:10

as opposed to the burden being on the

20:13

government.

20:13

>> The six conservatives didn't say there

20:16

had to be any standard. The second

20:18

circuit had said clear and convincing

20:20

evidence of the crime at the border, but

20:23

there's no standard at all to it could

20:24

be the intuition of the officer. The

20:27

court actually did leave open the

20:30

separate question of what appropriate

20:32

evidentiary standard, if any, applies at

20:35

the border. So, you're correct. At the

20:37

moment, it's totally up to the

20:39

discretion of the Customs and Border

20:41

Protection whether to say I think

20:44

there's something wrong with your

20:46

immigration status that I'm not going to

20:48

just accept your green card as evidence

20:50

that you should be lawfully permanently

20:52

admitted to the United States. instead

20:54

I'm going to just parole you in and let

20:56

an immigration court figure that out.

20:59

Every time the Supreme Court does

21:00

something like this, it always leads to

21:02

a subsequent case that needs to clarify

21:06

this. I understand an incrementalist

21:08

approach generally. But whenever

21:10

something like this happens, it's

21:12

inevitable where two or three more years

21:15

of just chaos occurs because the Supreme

21:18

Court didn't want to give an evidentiary

21:21

standard in the first place here. And

21:24

the Supreme Court ultimately doesn't do

21:27

that in this case because in between the

21:30

time of this fact pattern and now the

21:35

person does actually get convicted of

21:38

this counterfeiting offense. And so the

21:41

court figures, okay, if this person is

21:43

convicted of the counterfeiting offense,

21:46

then it's not really important that we

21:49

go down this road because it's not going

21:51

to make a difference in this case. this

21:53

person. Now, the only decision left is

21:56

whether this counterfeiting offense is

21:58

what's called a crime involving moral

22:00

turpitude or it isn't. And that comes

22:03

down to the concept of whether it's

22:05

really considered a moral offense like a

22:08

murder or a rape or a burglary or

22:11

something or is it considered a pure

22:13

regulatory offense? And if it's a pure

22:16

regulatory offense, then this person

22:17

won't be deported. But that's the point

22:19

is the court basically leaves this more

22:22

important issue of for another day of

22:25

what the border patrol whether they have

22:27

any standards at all before they can

22:30

decide to reject your green card and

22:32

conditionally let you in the country as

22:34

opposed to lawfully permanently letting

22:37

you in the country and so yes that's yet

22:40

another uncertainty now for even people

22:43

who have been here 20 30 years

22:45

>> so Leon who is going to make that

22:47

decision ision about whether the crime

22:50

is one of moral turpitude

22:53

>> that will now be made first by an

22:55

immigration judge who's an employee of

22:56

the department of justice. It's going to

22:58

get remanded all the way back down. It

23:00

gets remanded to the second circuit, but

23:02

the second circuit will remand it down

23:04

to the board of immigration appeals who

23:06

will remand it back down to the

23:08

immigration judge and then it'll work

23:10

its way back up to the second circuit

23:13

because presumably the immigration

23:15

court, especially now in the current

23:18

climate, will probably rule that it is a

23:21

crime involving moral turpitude. And

23:23

then it'll be up to the second circuit

23:25

who no longer has to defer to the

23:27

immigration courts anymore under the

23:29

loper bright line of cases which says

23:31

look when there's a legal issue there's

23:32

a legal issue this isn't really anything

23:34

we have to defer to here. So in the end

23:37

this decision is going to be made by the

23:39

second circuit who will have to decide

23:42

whether this individual's counterfeiting

23:45

conviction actually constitutes a crime

23:47

involving moral turpitude. So Leon, the

23:50

three liberal justices dissented and

23:53

Justice Katanji Brown Jackson wrote that

23:56

the decision to put the green card

23:58

holder on immigration parole effectively

24:02

sentenced him to immigration limbo

24:04

before he'd been convicted of any crime.

24:07

She wrote, "I worry that the court has

24:09

now handed the government a massive

24:11

blank check." Well, I mean, there's

24:13

definitely some merit to the argument,

24:16

and I don't see how even the majority

24:19

could dispute that they're really hoping

24:23

that the good faith of the men and women

24:25

in the Customs and Border Protection

24:27

continues to operate in good faith so

24:30

that this doesn't become an excessive

24:32

problem. Of course, if it becomes an

24:33

excessive problem, then the court's

24:36

going to have to revisit this. And this

24:37

is why I say these fact patterns tend to

24:40

lead and evolve into foreseeable

24:42

excessive problems. But they point out

24:45

in the dissenting opinion that one of

24:47

the main problems here is if the Customs

24:50

and Border Protection wants to sort of

24:53

proform invalidate your green card in

24:55

this manner, they can place you in

24:57

detention when they do this. And when

24:59

they place you in detention, then

25:02

depending on where they place you, if

25:04

they place you in some remote rural

25:05

area, you also will have very difficult

25:08

time in accessing an attorney. And if

25:10

you can't access an attorney, then you

25:12

can't make the defense as to why you

25:14

shouldn't be deported. And basically,

25:17

this whole thing can essentially lead to

25:20

a revocation of someone's green card by

25:22

default in a fact pattern where wouldn't

25:25

actually be lawfully permitted. And so

25:28

from that standpoint, the only thing

25:30

preventing this is the good faith of the

25:32

men and women working in the government.

25:34

And now we're going to have to see. You

25:37

know, usually the way this works is you

25:40

put constraints on the good faith,

25:43

hoping that people do operate in good

25:46

faith, but just in case they don't,

25:47

there are constraints so that people

25:50

know, hey, this will be reviewed by this

25:52

person, etc. But now we'll have to see.

25:55

Will the good faith that has been given

25:58

in terms of this blanket authority to

26:00

the Customs and Border Protection be

26:02

abused or will it be used in a way that

26:05

is still very rare for criminal type of

26:09

cases and not just for all types of

26:11

lawful permanent residents re-entering

26:13

in the United States after visiting

26:15

abroad? I mean, is there an undercurrent

26:17

here of the administration trying to

26:21

undermine perhaps the security that

26:23

green card holders may feel? The idea is

26:27

to say since you don't actually have to

26:30

be convicted of a crime and you can

26:33

basically have this green card status in

26:36

a sense conditionally revoked while you

26:39

go through immigration court if the

26:42

Customs and Border Protection has any

26:43

reason to think that you committed a

26:46

crime as opposed to you are convicted of

26:48

a crime. then everybody is potentially

26:51

on notice that if there's anything on

26:54

your phone or anything on your laptop or

26:57

anything anywhere that someone at the

26:59

CBP could decide to inspect and decide

27:02

to say, "Oh, well, it looks like you've

27:04

committed XYZ,

27:06

then yes, you won't be allowed to enter

27:08

in the United States." So now everybody

27:11

has more incentive. First, as a factual

27:14

matter, yes, mind your P's and Q's, but

27:17

also I think you will end up seeing the

27:19

immigration bar start giving advice

27:22

about what types of electronics to bring

27:24

into the United States or or don't bring

27:26

any, leave them all here, etc. Because

27:30

the potential for application here, you

27:33

know, pretty much you confiscate

27:35

anybody's computer, you can you can find

27:37

something. And so you say, "Oh, you

27:40

know, there's a mattress, you didn't pay

27:41

your mattress tag violation or

27:44

whatever." And so from that standpoint,

27:47

it becomes very very complicated.

27:49

>> The most high-profile case of the term

27:51

probably is the birthright citizenship

27:53

case and also ending TPS status. I mean,

27:57

does this decision at all indicate the

28:00

way the court might go in other

28:02

immigration decisions to come or is it

28:05

separate? Well, I will say I was

28:07

surprised that this decision was six to

28:09

three. I'm not surprised that there was

28:12

a majority of votes for this decision

28:16

because at the end of the day, I think

28:18

it's incremental enough that the court

28:21

can come back if the CBP starts going

28:24

too overboard with regard to rejecting

28:26

lawful permanent residents and come back

28:28

and impose some type of evidentiary

28:31

standard. So I do think that part is not

28:35

surprising, but I do think that because

28:39

the oral argument there was a lot of

28:40

concern about how broad this thing could

28:43

be applied and yet they still wrote a

28:47

decision that at least for the short

28:48

term allows this doctrine of cancelling

28:52

people's green card so to speak at the

28:54

airport to be applied in as broad a

28:56

fashion as possible. meaning it hasn't

28:58

been constrained by this particular

29:00

decision. Then I do think maybe not

29:05

exactly in the birthright citizenship

29:07

case. Although we'll wait and see

29:08

because there are some things here where

29:10

they might let Congress actually do some

29:14

legislation, which they would never do

29:15

because the Congress won't have the

29:17

votes either way to pass anything on

29:18

this. But I could see something like

29:20

that now from the standpoint that it

29:23

seems that the court really is willing

29:26

to say that in any of these cases where

29:29

we are going to defer to the political

29:32

system in the way it would work normally

29:35

if it was full of good faith actors that

29:37

were all doing their job. Not like the

29:40

world that exists today where the

29:42

Congress can't really pass anything. And

29:45

in a world where people in the

29:48

administrative branch have sort of

29:51

changed depending on what administration

29:52

they're in how they operate and how they

29:54

view the law. They don't read the law

29:56

like an AI chatbot. They read the law

29:59

based on policy priorities of of

30:01

different administrations. They're still

30:03

willing to seem to give a lot of good

30:04

faith difference here. And so we'll have

30:07

to see whether that ends up being wise

30:09

or not.

30:10

>> Okay. Stay with me, Leon. Coming up next

30:13

on the Bloomberg Law Show, I'll continue

30:14

this conversation with Leon Fresco. The

30:17

case about alleged Venezuelan gang

30:20

members sent to a notorious El Salvador

30:22

prison back in March of last year is

30:26

still going on. I'm June Grao and you're

30:28

listening to Bloomberg. I've been

30:30

talking to immigration law attorney Leon

30:33

Fresco of Holland Knight. So now let's

30:35

go back in time to, you know, early in

30:38

the Trump administration and those

30:40

flights in March of last year where the

30:44

administration sent alleged Venezuelan

30:47

gang members to a notorious El Salvador

30:51

prison. That case is amazingly still

30:54

going on even though the Venezuelans

30:57

have been returned to their home and set

30:59

free. Oddly enough, this case is still

31:01

going on even though Venezuela is now an

31:04

ally of the United States. And so the

31:06

whole idea that remember the if these

31:09

deportations of Venezuelans that were

31:11

taken to El Salvador were all based on

31:16

the idea that Venezuela was an alien

31:18

enemy of the United States and that

31:20

people here were acting in sort of in

31:22

cahoots with the Venezuelan government

31:24

to be our enemy and and destabilize the

31:26

United States. And so even though all of

31:29

that has now changed, one, the

31:31

government hasn't actually withdrawn its

31:34

theoretical doctrine that's gone on in

31:37

other cases where these issues are being

31:38

appealed that there are still Venezuelan

31:41

alien enemies of the United States. So

31:43

that's going to be interesting. I don't

31:44

know what the government's going to end

31:46

up doing with that again given that

31:48

we're in this world where we have this

31:50

cooperation with the Venezuelan

31:52

government. But in this particular case,

31:55

you still have Judge Boseberg who

31:57

remains upset from the quote unquote

32:00

original act in this case, which is he

32:02

said orally,

32:04

bring the people back if they're on a

32:06

plane and don't send people to El

32:10

Salvador if they're not on a plane. And

32:12

yet people never got sent back and

32:14

planes didn't turn back and and people

32:16

got sent to El Salvador. And so even

32:19

though the Supreme Court said that he

32:21

didn't have jurisdiction to have that

32:23

case that needed to be filed as

32:25

individual habiuses by the people who

32:28

were subject to these orders and

32:31

couldn't be done as a class action in

32:33

DC. Judge Booseberg still said, "Yeah,

32:36

but if you lied to me in my courtroom, I

32:40

should still have contempt authority to

32:42

do something about that." And the DC

32:45

circuit in a three judge panel basically

32:48

disagreed with that and said, "Look,

32:49

this case has reached an end. You don't

32:52

have contempt authority to do anything

32:54

at this point. And even if you if you

32:56

want to try to issue a contempt order,

32:58

go ahead because you already know what

33:00

happened. So if you want to basically

33:02

hold former Secretary Gnome in contempt

33:05

or anybody else, that's fine. But what

33:07

Judge Booseberg wanted to do is hold an

33:09

evidentiary hearing with testimony

33:11

before he issued a contempt order and a

33:14

criminal referral and all of that. And

33:16

then now looks like the full DC circuit.

33:18

That's the decision says let's see

33:21

whether he can do this or not because

33:22

there was hundreds of judges who did an

33:24

AMA brief saying look judges have to be

33:27

able regardless of in the end whether

33:29

they're right or wrong still be able to

33:31

patrol their courtrooms for people who

33:34

will lie to judges. And so from that

33:38

standpoint, you know, we'll see if the

33:40

DC circuit ends up saying regardless of

33:42

whether there was jurisdiction or not,

33:45

you still can enforce your courtroom and

33:47

issue contempt orders for things that

33:50

happened while you puditively did have

33:53

jurisdiction over the matter. And then

33:55

if that does happen, I'm sure the

33:56

government will appeal to the Supreme

33:58

Court and the Supreme Court will have to

34:00

decide whether Judge Boseberg actually

34:03

can continue with this contempt issue or

34:06

whether it's over and we just move on to

34:09

another issue. I mean, I would say just

34:11

looking at the numbers that since the

34:14

full court has decided to hear the case,

34:17

it might be because a lot of the judges

34:19

are interested in reversing the 2 to1

34:22

decision that went against Judge

34:24

Boseberg, but that's just looking at

34:27

numbers.

34:27

>> And I mean, he's a very well- reggarded

34:29

judge in DC.

34:31

>> He certainly is, and he was subject to

34:34

repeated attacks by the attorney general

34:37

and the president. So before we go,

34:39

Leon, tell us about the cows.

34:42

>> So for 30 years, every administration

34:45

and every bipartisan presidency has said

34:48

you can't bring in temporary

34:50

agricultural workers to do dairy work

34:52

because you have to milk those cows

34:54

every day. The cows don't just

34:55

seasonally need to be milked. And the

34:58

Trump administration out of all the

35:00

issues that it could have picked decided

35:02

this is the one issue where we will take

35:04

the pro-immigrant stance and let people

35:06

bring in immigrant workers to milk the

35:08

cows even though they have to be every

35:11

day so they're not seasonal. Oh well

35:13

that's not our problem. We're going to

35:15

let them come in. And so clearly the

35:17

agricultural industry got a huge win

35:20

there.

35:20

>> And the cows are happy too I guess.

35:22

>> Yes. And the cows are happy as well.

35:24

[laughter]

35:25

We've talked about so many immigration

35:27

issues, Liam, but I never thought it

35:28

would be about milking cows. Thanks as

35:31

always. That's Leon Fresco of Honda

35:34

Night. And that's it for this edition of

35:36

the Bloomberg Law Show. Remember, you

35:38

can always get the latest legal news on

35:39

our Bloomberg Law podcast. You can find

35:42

them on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and at

35:44

www.bloomberg.com/mpodcast/law.

35:49

And remember to tune in to the Bloomberg

35:51

Law Show every week night at 1000 PM

35:53

[music] Wall Street time. I'm June

35:56

Graasso and you're listening to

35:57

Bloomberg.

Interactive Summary

The video discusses several legal decisions, beginning with the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling in the Damon Landor case. A Rastafarian inmate, whose dreadlocks were forcibly cut despite religious protections, was denied the ability to sue individual prison officials for damages. This decision was based on federalism concerns regarding Congress's power under the RLUIPA spending clause, raising worries about diminished incentives for state officials to uphold inmates' religious rights. Another 6-3 Supreme Court decision allows Customs and Border Protection officers to place green card holders, accused but not yet convicted of certain crimes, on immigration parole upon re-entry, shifting the burden of proof to the individual in subsequent deportation proceedings. This ruling lacks a clear evidentiary standard at the border, sparking concerns about potential abuse of authority and its impact on how green card holders travel. The discussion also touches upon an ongoing case involving alleged Venezuelan gang members deported to El Salvador and a Trump administration policy change allowing temporary agricultural workers for dairy farming.

Suggested questions

6 ready-made prompts