Flores-Villar v. United States

Docket No.	Op. Below	Argument	Opinion	Vote	Author	Term
09-5801	9th Cir.	Nov 10, 2010 Tr.Aud.	Jun 13, 2011	4-4	Aff'd by a divided Court	OT 2010

Holding: An equally divided Court affirmed the decision of the Ninth Circuit upholding, against a constitutional challenge, a citizenship-transmission statute that imposes different standards for children born out of wedlock outside of the United States depending on whether the child's mother or father is a U.S. citizen. (Kagan, J., recused).

Plain English Holding: By a vote of four to four (because Justice Kagan was recused), the Court allowed the lower court's decision to stand; that decision rejected the argument that a federal law which establishes different standards for children born out of wedlock outside of the United States to obtain U.S. citizenship, depending on whether the child's mother or father was a U.S. citizen, is unconstitutional.

Judgment: Affirmed by an equally divided Court on June 13, 2011. (Kagan, J., recused).

SCOTUSblog Coverage

This week at the Court: In Plain English (Lisa McElroy)
Last weekâ€™s oral arguments: in Plain English (Lisa McElroy)
Argument recap: possible remedies in citizenship-transmission case (Anna Christensen)
Argument preview: Evaluating the INAâ€™s citizenship-transmission requirement (Anna Christensen)

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Flores-Villar v. United States

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Challengers urge justices to dismiss census case after district court ruling – Amy Howe

Reargument analysis: Justices seek a “middle position” in takings litigation case – Miriam Seifter

Argument analysis: Justices have strong views about removal of class actions – Ronald Mann

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