Supreme Court's Shadow Docket & Racial Profiling: Amicus with Dahlia Lithwick

Supreme Court's Shadow Docket Decision

• ⚖️ The Supreme Court issued an order on its emergency shadow docket in Noem v. Vasquez-Perdomo, effectively legalizing a form of racial profiling by roving ICE patrols.
• 🚫 The decision was made by a 6-3 margin with no explanation or reasoning, leaving lower courts to interpret its implications.
• ✍️ Justice Kavanaugh’s concurrence, joined by no other justices, justified the order by downplaying concerns about ICE sweeps targeting individuals based on language and appearance.

Impact on Daily Life in Los Angeles

• 😥 ICE enforcement actions in parks, at fruit stands, and near bus stops have instilled fear, leading to the cancellation of community activities like soccer games.
• 🛍️ Daily life aspects such as visiting Home Depot, operating taco trucks, and commuting have become sources of anxiety due to fear of being stopped and detained.
• 📉 Local governments are considering cash assistance for residents unable to work due to fear of arrest, highlighting the severe practical effects of these raids.

Legal Doctrine and Reasonable Suspicion

• 🔍 The district court found that ICE officers were detaining people without individualized suspicion, using factors like race, language, location, and workplace.
• 🚨 The court previously held that race could not be used as a factor in immigration stops, a precedent now seemingly overturned by the Supreme Court's order.
• 📜 Reasonable suspicion requires specific and articulable facts individualized to the person, not characteristics common to a large portion of the law-abiding population.

Kavanaugh's Concurrence and Legal Contradictions

• 🗣️ Kavanaugh’s concurrence is criticized for being divorced from reality and the factual record, describing encounters as brief questioning when evidence shows physical force and detention.
• 🧐 The concurrence cites no evidence for claims about the number of undocumented immigrants, relying instead on