Breaking: Texas Files Motion For 30-Day Extension For Brief in Opposition

November 23rd, 2015

Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller has filed an opposed motion for a 30-day extension of time to file a brief in opposition to the SG’s petition for certiorari in United States v. Texas. Here is the key response to the government’s position:

Although petitioners have expressed opposition to the requested extension, the request rests on good cause arising from the deadlines recited above. If petitioners’ opposition stems from concern about short-term consequences of the district court’s preliminary injunction, petitioners could have sought a stay pending appeal. But after the district court and court of appeals months ago denied petitioners’ motions to stay the preliminary injunction pending appeal, petitioners declined to seek a stay from this Court. And as the State respondents noted in opposing those stay motions, the preliminary injunction does not require the Executive to remove any alien, and it does not impair the Executive’s ability to set priorities for determining which unauthorized aliens to remove.

This is a point I have made several times before–the failure to seek a stay back in May suggests this case isn’t as urgent as the government now insists.

The piece that Ilya and I were working on suddenly got a quick redirection. Stay tuned for more tonight.