The U.S. Supreme Court declines to take up an appeal by Jesus Herrera-Salazar, a Mexican national who seeks review of his prosecution for allegedly illegally reentering the United States. In connection with the court’s decision not to hear the case, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch issue a joint statement criticizing what they describe as constitutional problems in the government’s treatment of him.
Multiple outlets report that Sotomayor and Gorsuch focus on double jeopardy concerns, pointing to Herrera-Salazar’s history of arrests. They argue that the sequence involving his detentions and subsequent prosecution raises questions about how the case aligns with constitutional protections. The outlets also note that part of the Supreme Court’s decision not to review the appeal involves the fact that Herrera-Salazar has already been deported.
While all accounts converge on the “constitutional absurdity” framing and the double jeopardy issue, the emphasis varies: some stress the justices’ bipartisan, unusual partnership, while others foreground the court’s procedural reason for rejecting the request for review.
