Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts dismisses Arizona’s appeal citing ‘mares’ nest’ legal issues
By: Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services June 15, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court will not allow Attorney General Mark Brnovich to defend a Trump-era rule designed to deny “green cards” to those at the bottom of the economic ladder.
In a unanimous decision Wednesday, the justices said it was “improvident” for the court to have even entertained Brnovich’s bid to restore the Public Charge Rule that would have imposed new hurdles on those seeking permanent legal status. The majority, in its eight-word order, did not explain its decision.
But in a separate concurring opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said the decision does not mean that the court agrees with the decision by the Biden administration to quash the rule — the action that Brnovich sought to challenge. In fact, the justices allowed him to make his case to them in person in February.
But Roberts, joined by three other justices, said that there were too many thorny side issues — what he called a “mare’s nest” — that would get in the way of reaching a clear ruling.
Roberts said that there may be another opportunity for the court to decide whether Biden acted legally in rescinding what Trump had instituted without going through a formal rule-making process. But, for the moment, Biden’s action stands — and Brnovich and the other state attorneys general who sued to overturn it have no legal right to challenge it.
There was no immediate response from the attorney general.
