SUPREME COURT MIGHT HAVE EASY OUTS ON ELECTIONS, IMMIGRATION
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court soon could find itself with easy ways out of two high-profile cases involving immigration and elections, if indeed the justices are looking to avoid potentially messy, divisive decisions.
Off-ramps in those cases could prove attractive in a term with no shortage of big cases that could divide the court’s six conservatives and three liberals. Affirmative action, voting rights, gay rights and student loan forgiveness also are on the agenda for a court that is less than a year removed from overturning nearly 50 years of constitutional protections for abortion and seeing a significant dip in public confidence.
The Biden administration provided one possible way out for the court this past week. A legal fight over turning away immigrants at the border because of the coronavirus pandemic, under a provision of federal law known as Title 42, is about to become irrelevant, the administration said in a court filing Tuesday.
That’s because the administration recently announced that the public health emergency that justified the quick expulsion of immigrants will expire on May 11.
The use of Title 42 began during Donald Trump’s presidency and continued after Joe Biden took office. It has been used millions of times to turn away migrants at the border.
Title 42 is at the root of a Supreme Court case that the justices in December put on a fast track, with arguments set for March 1. At issue isn’t the use of Title 42 itself but the question of whether a group of Republican states can insert themselves into a lawsuit over the policy. The states support keeping it in place. If it ends, they say illegal immigration will increase and they argue their interests aren’t represented in the case.
If the public health emergency ends as planned and the justices do nothing until then, the case could end without a decision.
The other case the court could dodge involves an elections issue and comes out of North Carolina. Last week, the state’s top court ordered a new look at the case.
Republicans in North Carolina have asked the justices for a ruling that could leave state legislatures virtually unchecked in making rules for congressional and presidential elections. Such an outcome would validate what is known as the “independent state legislature” theory, which would dramatically enhance the power of state lawmakers over elections.
The justices heard arguments in December in an appeal from Republicans who argued that the state Supreme Court, then with a Democratic majority, improperly tossed the state’s Republican-drawn congressional districts. Now a new Republican majority on the North Carolina high court has set new arguments for March. The Supreme Court could wait to see what the North Carolina court does before reaching its own conclusions.