Every term, I find at least one sleeper case. These decisions were not on the public's radar, but reached some fairly significant constitutional holdings. In OT 2019, there was Agency for Int'l Development v. Alliance for Open Society. In OT 2020, there was BP v. Baltimore. In OT 2022, there was Mallory v. Norfolk Southern. This term, the sleeper case is Department of State v. Munoz.
Sandra Munoz, a U.S. citizen, married Luis Asencio-Cordero, an alien. (No, I will not use the neologism "non-citizen.") Under immigration law, the husband had to return to his home country, El Salvador, to apply for a spouse visa. However, the consular officer denied his visa. Eventually, the government cited the statute indicating that an alien is inadmissible due to some "unlawful activity." Long story short, the government suspected that Asencio-Cordero had some connections with the MS-13 gang. Since the husband was no longer in the United States, he had no mechanism to challenge the denial of his visa in court. However, his wife, who was a U.S. citizen, brought suit in the Ninth Circuit.
The Court split 6-3, along right-left lines. Justice Barrett wrote the majority opinion and Justice Sotomayor wrote the dissent. But to be clear, none of the Justices held that the husband was entitled to a visa. Indeed, I think all nine Justices agreed that the rationale given to Munoz–that her husband was suspected of having gang affiliations–afforded her all the process she was due. All nine Justices would have reversed the Ninth Circuit. I agree with Ed Whelan that Sotomayor's opinion should have been labelled "concurring in part and dissenting in part," or "concurring in the judgment," or something to that effect. But Sotomayor's "dissenting" appellation muddles the bottom line.
