Dean Johnson comments for Bloomberg Radio, KQED, Daily Journal on Supreme Court travel ban case

Dean Kevin R. Johnson spoke to Bloomberg Radio, KQED radio and the Daily Journal just after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Trump v. Hawaii, which challenges President Donald Trump’s travel ban restricting entry by nationals from eight, mostly majority-Muslim countries.

Many observers interpreted questions posed by justices during those April 25 oral arguments as indicating Trump likely would win the case. But in an interview with Bloomberg Radio’s June Grasso, Dean Johnson cautioned about reading too much into oral arguments.

“Most people heard the oral arguments in the Affordable Care Act case and predicted that the Obama administration was going to be a loser in that case,” Dean Johnson said. “And as we all recall, the Affordable Care Act was upheld by the Supreme Court.”

During oral arguments in the travel-ban case, “we get a sense from the Chief Justice and from Justice Kennedy that they are worried about national security,” Dean Johnson said. “And we get a sense from Justice Gorsuch that he is wondering whether this case belongs in federal court at all. But then, from Justice Kagan and Justice Sotomayor, you hear concerns about discrimination in immigration procedures like this.”

Dean Johnson said there is some indication the majority might side with Trump when the court rules, but that “it is hard to predict, and it is hazardous to predict.”

Kevin R. Johnson is Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o studies at UC Davis School of Law. He is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights.