Johnson v. Arteaga-Martinez

Summary

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Sotomayor joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Thomas, Alito, Kagan, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, held that 8 U.S.C. §1231(a)(6) does not require bond hearings after six months of detention at which the Government must establish dangerousness or flight risk by clear and convincing evidence. The Court reversed and remanded, leaving the constitutional claims and an alternative claim for release under Zadvydas for the lower courts. Justice Thomas concurred, arguing that jurisdiction was lacking, questioning the applicability of due process protections, and urging that Zadvydas be overruled; Justice Gorsuch joined only his jurisdictional discussion. Justice Breyer concurred in part and dissented in part, agreeing that the clear-and-convincing-evidence requirement was foreclosed but otherwise viewing the bond-hearing requirement as a reasonable implementation of Zadvydas.