US high court asked to remove erroneous info from opinion

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To err is human. But when the nation’s highest court receives erroneous information in a case – and even cites the flawed data in its opinion – what, if anything, should the court do about it?

That is the situation the Supreme Court is facing now in connection with its ruling in the immigration case Nken v. Holder. In that case Justice Department argued that immigration officials “facilitate” the return of immigrants who successfully appeal removal proceedings. While the Department has since changed its policies to do just that, at the time the argument was made that was not the case.

But Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. cited the claim in the opinion to note that while deportation is a burden, it is not “categorically irreparable.”

Now a group of immigration advocates have filed a letter with the court asking for it to change its opinion. The coalition – comprised of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the National Immigrant Justice Center, the National Immigration law Center, and Public Counsel, among others – said that lower courts are still relying on the erroneous information in the opinion.

The Justice Department filed a letter expressing regret at the situation, but stating that because the opinion matches current policy, no further action is needed.

SCOTUSblog’s Lyle Denniston notes that making changes to opinion after they are issued is rare and can be problematic – particularly when the bound volume of the case is already out. It does occasionally happen, though. The last time was four years ago, when the court changed the wording of a death penalty case, Kennedy v. Louisiana.