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White House urges Supreme Court to dismiss travel ban cases

The Washington Post

October 5, 2017 at 10:58PM

FILE — The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court sit for a group portrait in Washington, June 1, 2017. The Supreme Court, which was shorthanded and slumbering for more than a year after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, is returning to the bench on Oct. 2 with a far-reaching docket that renews its central role in American life. Front row, from left: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Clarence Thomas, and Justice Stephen Breyer. Back row, from left: Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Neil Gorsuch. (Doug Mills/The New York Times) (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration told the Supreme Court on Thursday that there is no reason for the court to rule on the legality of the president's previous bans on travel from certain countries, and that lower court rulings against the president's position should be erased.

Opponents of the bans, who had persuaded two appeals courts to block them, said the court should continue to review the cases. Even if not, they said, the lower court rulings should stand.

Solicitor General Noel Francisco said the new proclamation means that the temporary measures under review at the Supreme Court have been superseded. The latest travel ban remains in effect indefinitely and imposes restrictions on eight, rather than six, countries. But unlike the last ban, the restrictions vary by country.

A federal judge in Maryland said this week that those suing over the previous travel ban could file a request for a preliminary injunction to block the new one. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Oct. 17.