Supreme Court Action

The Supreme Court split 5-4 Wednesday to let the Bush administration deport a British man for breaking the law in Mississippi. Kiren Kumar Bharti’s request for a stay was supported by the court’s four most liberal members: Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. They did not explain their votes. Bharti’s case is similar to two appeals that justices agreed last month to consider. They ask whether immigrants can avoid deportation over some state drug convictions. Arguments will be late this year. To win a Supreme Court stay requires five votes. President Bush’s two nominees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, backed the government Wednesday, as did Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas. Bharti was convicted in Tupelo, Miss., of marijuana possession charges in 1998, the same year he was awarded permanent resident status. The government began deportation proceedings after he got into more trouble, including convictions for domestic violence and resisting arrest.

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KJ