Professor Chin Publishes SCOTUSblog Op-ed on U.S. v. Texas

Professor Gabriel "Jack" Chin contributed an article to an online "Symposium on the Court's ruling in United States v. Texas" published on SCOTUSblog.  Chin's contribution, "From here, where to?" analyzes issues in the case and explores potential scenarios for its resolution.

United States v. Texas concerns the constitutionality of the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) program. The Justices, short-handed in the wake of the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, split 4-4, leaving in place a U.S. District Court's preliminary injunction blocking implementation of DAPA.

"Although the ruling means that the injunction against DAPA remains in place, the case is some distance from being over," Chin notes, and goes on to consider ways in which the Obama administration may challenge the injunction.  He writes that the Justices "missed an opportunity to give some guidance" in issuing a single-sentence notice of its 4-4 deadlock, noting that the Court has on occasion delivered four-four affirmances with some explanation.

"In United States v. Texas, was there nothing upon which five or more Justices could agree?" Chin writes. "This case affects, potentially, the ability of millions of people to move out of the shadows, as well as the right of the president to exercise his authority to enforce the law. If so, there is precedent for affirming some piece of the case by an equally divided court, while issuing merits rulings on other questions."

Gabriel "Jack" Chin, Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Law at King Hall, is a prolific and much-cited criminal and immigration law scholar whose work has addressed many of the most pressing social issues of our time.

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