Stranded Refugee Relief Organization

NO FLY LIST & government burden

FBI v. Fikre
US Supreme Court

March 19, 2024

The case involves Yonas Fikre, a U.S. citizen and Sudanese emigree, who brought a lawsuit alleging that the government unlawfully placed him on the No Fly List. Fikre claimed that the government violated his rights to procedural due process and placed him on the list for constitutionally impermissible reasons related to his race, national origin, and religious beliefs. In 2016, the government removed Fikre from the No Fly List, and argued in court that this action rendered Fikre's lawsuit moot. The district court agreed with the government's assessment, but the Ninth Circuit reversed, stating that a party seeking to moot a case based on its own voluntary cessation of challenged conduct must show that the conduct cannot “reasonably be expected to recur.”

The Supreme Court of the United States affirmed the Ninth Circuit's decision. It held that the government failed to demonstrate that the case was moot. The Court stated that a defendant's "voluntary cessation of a challenged practice" will moot a case only if the defendant can prove that the practice cannot "reasonably be expected to recur." The Court found that the government's declaration that it will not relist Fikre based on "currently available information" did not suffice to demonstrate that Fikre will not be placed on the No Fly List in the future if he engages in the same or similar conduct. Therefore, the government has not borne its burden of proving that the dispute is moot.

LEGAL ALLERT
"Honest and Upright Life" Requirement May Be Fulfilled While in Custody, California Supreme Court Holds.

The California Supreme Court unanimously held Thursday that a person convicted of a misdemeanor is entitled to expungement of the conviction under Penal Code section 1203.4a, subdivision (a), if the person has lived “an honest and upright life” during a specified period after judgment -- and even if the person has been in custody since completing the sentence imposed for the misdemeanor.

People v. Maya, Supreme Court of California.

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