The case of Nasrallah v. Barr has been scheduled for argument before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) during the court’s October 2019-2020 term. The case came to the court on a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
A Lebanese citizen, Nidal Khalid Nasrallah, pleaded guilty to two counts of receiving stolen property via interstate commerce. A U.S. immigration judge determined that one of the convictions involved moral turpitude and was a crime that made Nasrallah subject to deportation from the United States. However, the judge granted Nasrallah a deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture. On appeal, the Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed the immigration judge’s conclusion that Nasrallah’s conviction was a crime that involved moral turpitude, but reversed the immigration judge’s deferral and ordered Nasrallah’s removal.
Nasrallah filed a petition for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. On February 14, 2019, the 11th Circuit denied in part and dismissed in part Nasrallah’s petition for review. On May 14, 2019, Nasrallah filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court. On October 18, 2019, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
The question presented before the Supreme Court is, “Whether, notwithstanding Section 1252(a)(2)(C), the courts of appeals possess jurisdiction to review factual findings underlying denials of withholding (and deferral) of removal relief.”
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the country and leads the judicial branch of the federal government. The Supreme Court is the only court established by the United States Constitution (in Article III); all other federal courts are created by Congress.
The Supreme Court meets in Washington, D.C., and its yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions in mid-June.