Zadvydas v. Davis

Zadvydas v. Davis
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 21, 2001 Decided June 28, 2001
Full case name	Kestutis Zadvydas v. Christine G. Davis and Immigration and Naturalization Service, John D. Ashcroft, Attorney General, et al.
Citations	533 U.S. 678 (more) 121 S. Ct. 2491; 150 L. Ed. 2d 653
Argument	Oral argument
Case history
Prior	Zadvydas v. Caplinger, 986 F. Supp. 1011 (E.D. La. 1997), reversed sub nom. Zadvydas v. Underdown, 185 F.3d 279 (5th Cir. 1999); cert. granted, 531 U.S. 923 (2000) Phan v. Reno, 56 F. Supp. 2d 1149 (W.D. Wash. 1999); affirmed, Ma v. Reno, 208 F.3d 815 (9th Cir. 2000); cert. granted, 531 U.S. 924 (2000)
Subsequent	Zadvydas v. Davis, 285 F.3d 398 (5th Cir. 2002) Ma v. Ashcroft, 257 F.3d 1095 (9th Cir. 2001)
Holding
Detention of unremoveable admitted immigrants cannot exceed six months unless removal is in the foreseeable future or if there are other special circumstances.
Court membership
Chief Justice William Rehnquist Associate Justices John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy David Souter · Clarence Thomas Ruth Bader Ginsburg · Stephen Breyer
Case opinions
Majority	Breyer, joined by Stevens, O'Connor, Souter, Ginsburg
Dissent	Scalia, joined by Thomas
Dissent	Kennedy, joined by Rehnquist; Scalia, Thomas (Part I)
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. V Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(6),28 U.S.C. § 2241(c)(3)

Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678 (2001), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. The court ruled that the plenary power doctrine does not authorize the indefinite detention of immigrants under order of deportation whom no other country will accept. To justify detention of immigrants for a period longer than six months, the government was required to show removal in the foreseeable future or special circumstances.^[1]