Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General v. Varinder Singh

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 20-70050

Decided · June 14, 2024

Pre-decision estimate: 81% cert probability (95% interval 70%–88%)

Before the decision, about 19.6× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a federal-government petitioner and counsel who has won certiorari before.

Question presented

Consolidated with 22-674. Under 8 U.S.C. 1229a(b)(5), a noncitizen may be ordered removed in absentia when he "does not attend a [removal] proceeding" "after written notice required under paragraph (1) or (2) of [8 U.S.C. 1229(a)] has been provided" to him or his counsel of record. 8 U.S.C. 1229a(b)(5)(A). An order of removal that was entered in absentia "may be rescinded" "upon a motion to reopen filed at any time" if the noncitizen subject to the order demonstrates that he "did not receive" such notice. 8 U.S.C. 1229a(b)(5)(C)(ii). The question presented is whether the failure to receive, in a single document, all of the information specified in paragraph (1) of 8 U.S.C. 1229(a) precludes an additional document from providing adequate notice under paragraph (2), and renders any in absentia removal order subject, indefinitely, to rescission.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Elizabeth B. Prelogar
Solicitor General

For respondent
Saad Ahmad
Saad Ahmad and Associates

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Argument & decision

Argued January 8, 2024 — Charles L. McCloud · Easha Anand. Audio and transcript

Decided June 14, 2024. Opinion by Alito.

Proceedings

Jul 16 2024
Judgment Issued.
Main Document
Jun 14 2024
Judgment REVERSED (No. 22-884 as to respondent Mendez-Colin), and VACATED AND REMANDED (No. 22-884 as to respondent Singh); AFFIRMED (as to No. 22-674). Alito, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Thomas, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, JJ., joined. Jackson, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Sotomayor, Kagan, and Gorsuch, JJ., joined. VIDED.
Jan 08 2024
Argued. For Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General: Charles L. McCloud, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. For petitioner in 22-674 and respondents in 22-884: Easha Anand, Stanford, Cal. VIDED.
Dec 01 2023
Sealed material from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit electronically available with the Clerk. The remainder of the record is available on PACER.
Nov 30 2023
CIRCULATED
Nov 17 2023
Record requested from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Nov 17 2023
SET FOR ARGUMENT on Monday, January 8, 2024. VIDED.
Aug 04 2023
The briefing proposal set forth in the Solicitor General’s letter of July 27, 2023, is adopted. The Solicitor General shall file a consolidated opening brief on the merits, limited to 17,000 words, on or before August 29, 2023. Any brief of an amicus curiae in support, or in support of neither party, shall bear a light green cover. Petitioner in No. 22-674 and respondents in No. 22-884 may each file a response brief on the merits on or before October 18, 2023, and the briefs shall bear light red covers. Any brief of an amicus curiae in support shall bear a dark green cover. The Solicitor General shall file a consolidated reply brief limited to 9,000 words. VIDED
Jun 30 2023
Petition GRANTED. The petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 22-674 is granted. The cases are consolidated, and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument. VIDED.
Jun 30 2023
Because the Court has consolidated these cases for briefing and oral argument, future filings and activity in the cases will now be reflected on the docket of No. 22-674. Subsequent filings in these cases must therefore be submitted through the electronic filing system in No. 22-674. Each document submitted in connection with one or more of these cases must include on its cover the case number and caption for each case in which the filing is intended to be submitted. Where a filing is submitted in fewer than all of the cases, the docket entry will reflect the case number(s) in which the filing is submitted; a document filed in all of the consolidated cases will be noted as “VIDED.”
Jun 30 2023
As Rule 34.6 provides, “If the Court schedules briefing and oral argument in a case that was governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2(c) or Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49.1(c), the parties shall submit electronic versions of all prior and subsequent filings with this Court in the case, subject to [applicable] redaction rules.” Subsequent party and amicus filings in the case should now be submitted through the Court’s electronic filing system, with any necessary redactions.
Jun 29 2023
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/29/2023.
Jun 06 2023
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/22/2023.
Jun 06 2023
Reply of petitioner Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General filed. (Distributed)
Main Document
May 22 2023
Brief of respondents Varinder Singh and Raul Daniel Mendez-Colin in opposition filed.
Apr 28 2023
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including May 22, 2023, for all respondents.
Apr 27 2023
Motion to extend the time to file a response from May 15, 2023 to May 22, 2023, submitted to The Clerk.
Mar 29 2023
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including May 15, 2023, for all respondents.
Mar 28 2023
Motion of respondent Raul D. Mendiz-Colin to extend the time to file a response from April 13, 2023 to May 15, 2023, submitted to The Clerk.
Mar 22 2023
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including May 15, 2023, for all respondents. See Rule 30.1.
Mar 14 2023
Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 13, 2023 to May 13, 2023, submitted to The Clerk.
Mar 10 2023
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due April 13, 2023)
Petition
Jan 27 2023
Application (22A583) to extend further the time from February 9, 2023 to March 10, 2023, submitted to Justice Kagan.
Jan 27 2023
Application (22A584) to extend further the time from February 9, 2023 to March 10, 2023, submitted to Justice Kagan.
Jan 27 2023
Application (22A583) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until March 10, 2023.
Jan 27 2023
Application (22A584) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until March 10, 2023.
Dec 30 2022
Application (22A583) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until February 9, 2023.
Dec 30 2022
Application (22A584) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until February 9, 2023.
Dec 29 2022
Application (22A583) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from January 10, 2023 to February 9, 2023, submitted to Justice Kagan.
Dec 29 2022
Application (22A584) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from January 10, 2023 to February 9, 2023, submitted to Justice Kagan.
Dec 29 2022
Pursuant to Rule 34.6 and Paragraph 9 of the Guidelines for the Submission of Documents to the Supreme Court's Electronic Filing System, filings in this case should be submitted in paper form only, and should not be submitted through the Court's electronic filing system.