Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr
| Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued December 9, 2019 Decided March 23, 2020 | |
| Full case name | Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr |
| Docket no. | 18-776 |
| Citations | 589 U.S. ___ (more) 140 S. Ct. 1062; 206 L. Ed. 2d 271 |
| Argument | Oral argument |
| Opinion announcement | Opinion announcement |
| Case history | |
| Prior | |
| Holding | |
| The statutory phrase "questions of law" includes the application of a legal standard to facts when those facts are undisputed. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Breyer, joined by Roberts, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh |
| Dissent | Thomas, joined by Alito (all but Part II–A–1) |
Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr, 589 U.S. ___ (2020), was a United States Supreme Court case. The question before the Court was, "Is a request for equitable tolling, as it applies to statutory motions to reopen, judicially reviewable as a question of law?"[1]
Background
Statute
Title 8[2] limits the scope of judicial review to "constitutional claims or questions of law" when a non-citizen facing deportation has committed specific crimes.
Lower court
Pedro Pablo Guerrero-Lasprilla and Ruben Ovalles became removable from the United States upon conviction for drug crimes. The petitioners asked the board to reopen their removal proceedings after the 90-day time limit, and argued that the time limit should be equitably tolled. The board denied their requests, and the Fifth Circuit said it was a question of fact. The petitioners disagreed; according to them, the underlying facts were not in dispute. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Decision
In a 7–2 decision written by Justice Breyer, the court ruled that the statutory phrase "questions of law" includes the application of a legal standard to facts when those facts are undisputed. The government argued that Congress intended to exclude mixed questions from judicial review. The court disagreed and concluding that the request for equitable tolling was judicially reviewable as a question of law, the court vacated and remanded the case.[3]
Dissent
References
External links
- Text of Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr, No. 18-776, 589 U.S. ___ (2020) is available from: Justia Oyez (oral argument audio) Supreme Court (slip opinion)