At least five votes are needed on the nine-justice court in order to grant a stay. The court has a five-four conservative majority, with Justice Anthony Kennedy – a conservative who sometimes sides with the court’s four liberals – the frequent swing vote.
Another of the court’s conservatives, Neil Gorsuch, was appointed by Trump this year.
If the government’s request is granted, the ban would go into effect, but Peter Matthews, professor of political science at Cypress College, predicted that the Supreme Court would not allow Trump’s “discriminatory” to be reinstated.
“The Supreme Court ruling will be the final say on this idea of equal protection under the law and non-discrimination based on religion,” he told Al Jazeera from Los Angeles.
“It’s a very important basic principle of America, and I think even the conservatives justices, at least one or two of them … will side with the argument that liberty is so important that you cannot ban a group of people just because of their faith in a blanket way – it’s absolutely unconstitutional, in my view.”
OPINION: The Muslim ban and the ethnic cleansing of America
Trump issued a first travel ban order on January 27, just a week after taking office. It led to chaos and protests at airports before it was blocked by courts.
The second order was intended to overcome the legal issues posed by the original ban, but it was blocked by judges before it could go into effect on March 16.
During the campaign, Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”
His administration has argued that the travel ban is needed to prevent “terrorism” in the US, but the ACLU and several other groups, as well as law experts, scholars and activists say that Trump’s statements on the campaign trail and statements from his advisers since he took office make clear that the intent of the policy is to ban Muslims.
“During his campaign, Trump promised a ban on Muslims entering the country. This is discrimination on the basis of religion, which is unconstitutional,” Danielle McLaughlin, a constitutional law scholar, told Al Jazeera in March.
source : Al jazeera
English 