New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's last-minute pardon of a twice-arrested Dominican immigrant has quietly killed one of the Supreme Court's most closely watched immigration cases of the term — just six weeks before it was set to be argued.
Why it matters: The case, Genalo v. Black, was set to decide whether the Constitution requires a bond hearing for immigrants held in “prolonged” ICE detention — and how high a bar the government must clear to keep someone locked up without one. Hochul's pardon erased the last plaintiff before the justices could rule, Fox News reports.
Driving the news:
Hochul granted Dominican national Keisy Guerrero Mariano a “full and unconditional” pardon on Aug. 28 for the 2015 second-degree assault conviction that was central to his deportation case, according to RedState.
The pardon wiped out the legal basis for Mariano's challenge just six weeks before the Supreme Court was set to hear oral arguments on Oct. 13.
The justices had agreed June 15 to hear Genalo v. Black, which paired Mariano's case with that of Jamaican national Carol Williams Black, convicted in 2000 of sexually abusing a minor under 11.
Black's half of the case had already been ruled moot after he left the U.S. — leaving Mariano as the last plaintiff standing until Hochul's pardon eliminated him too, per Fox News.
By the numbers:
2012 — Year Mariano, then a lawful permanent resident, was arrested in the Bronx after an incident involving a stolen cellphone and an assault with a belt.
2015 — Year he pleaded guilty to second-degree assault, serving two years in prison plus three years of post-release supervision.
2020 — Year ICE arrested him under mandatory-detention law as his removal case proceeded.
~2 years — Time Mariano spent in ICE detention before he was released in 2022 over COVID-19 concerns.
Aug. 28 — Date of Hochul's pardon, roughly six weeks before oral arguments had been scheduled.
What they're saying: Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan, who was involved in the case, called the timing hard to miss: “Pretty wild to fully pardon an aggravated felon to (1) stop the felon from getting deported and (2) stop the Supreme Court from ruling on an issue,” he said, per Fox News. “I wonder how many non-American felons Governors like Hochul will choose to fully pardon and free to avoid them facing consequences for their actions.”
What's next:
Solicitor General John Sauer says the administration will pursue an “alternative vehicle” — a new case raising the same constitutional question — sometime in the Supreme Court's 2026-27 term, Fox News reports.
The Second Circuit's 2024 ruling, which established the bond-hearing right for prolonged detention in New York, Connecticut and Vermont, stays in force for now since the administration didn't ask the Court to vacate it, per RedState.
The bottom line: One pardon just delayed a Supreme Court test of how long the government can detain immigrants without a hearing — but with the underlying legal question unresolved and the administration already eyeing a replacement case, expect this fight back before the justices within the year.
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