In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court issued a stay on a lower court ruling that restricted ICE from conducting “roving” patrols in Southern California while the case proceeds through the courts.
I know I wrote about this case because people on both sides read the lower court’s ruling incorrectly, and it ticked me off.
I cannot find it, but I’m tired from an all-day music festival and likely overlooking it.
The lower court judge reminded the Trump administration that they needed reasonable suspicion, violating a person’s rights protected under the Fourth Amendment.
KEY PHRASE: Reasonable suspicion. Not probable cause. Reasonable suspicion.
The judge stopped immigration officers from making stops at particular locations (day labor pickup sites), the type of work, speaking Spanish or English with an accent, or their race.
The Supreme Court majority did not issue an opinion.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh authored a concurring opinion while Justice Sonia Sotomayor, with the other two liberal justices, penned a 20-page dissent.
Kavanaugh wrote that the Immigration and Nationality Act allows “immigration officers to ‘interrogate any alien or person
believed to be an alien as to his right to be or to remain in
the United States’ and “Immigration officers ‘may briefly detain’ an individual ‘for questioning’ if they have ‘a reasonable suspicion, based on specific articulable facts, that the person being questioned . . . is an alien illegally in the United States.’”
Remember how I stressed reasonable suspicion? That’s because reasonable suspicion is not the same as probable cause.
“Reasonable suspicion is a lesser requirement than probable cause and ‘considerably short’ of the preponderance of the evidence standard,” explained Kavanaugh. “Whether an officer has reasonable suspicion depends on the totality of the circumstances.”
Kavanaugh added, though: “To be clear, apparent ethnicity alone cannot furnish reasonable suspicion; under this Court’s case law regarding immigration stops, however, it can be a ‘relevant factor’ when considered along with other salient factors.”
You can say that reasonable suspicion is a hunch:
- Origin of Action: Reasonable suspicion is based on specific, articulable facts that suggest criminal activity might be afoot, allowing law enforcement to initiate a brief stop and question. Probable cause, however, requires more concrete evidence indicating that a crime has been committed, which can justify an arrest, search, or warrant.
- Degree of Certainty: Reasonable suspicion requires lower certainty and relies mainly on the officer’s subjective assessment and inference from the situation. Probable cause demands a higher level of certainty, where the facts would lead a reasonable person to believe that the accused party is guilty.
I’m glad Kavanaugh wrote a concurring opinion. It’s essential to comprehend the distinctions between legal standards and the specific requirements each standard entails.
I haven’t read the dissent yet.
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