Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/17pdf/17-965_h315.pdf
Page Number: 65.0

Cite as:  585 U. S. ____ (2018) 

1 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

No. 17–965 
_________________ 

DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 

STATES, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. HAWAII, ET AL. 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 

APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
 

[June 26, 2018] 

JUSTICE  SOTOMAYOR,  with  whom  JUSTICE  GINSBURG 

joins, dissenting. 

The United States of America is a Nation built upon the
promise  of  religious  liberty.    Our  Founders  honored  that 
core promise by embedding the principle of religious neu­
trality  in  the  First  Amendment.  The  Court’s  decision 
today  fails  to  safeguard  that  fundamental  principle.    It 
leaves  undisturbed  a  policy  first  advertised  openly  and
unequivocally  as  a  “total  and  complete  shutdown  of  Mus­
lims  entering  the  United  States”  because  the  policy  now 
masquerades  behind  a  façade  of  national-security  con­
cerns.  But  this  repackaging  does  little  to  cleanse  Presi­
dential  Proclamation  No.  9645  of  the  appearance  of  dis­
crimination  that  the  President’s  words  have  created. 
Based on the evidence in the record, a reasonable observer 
would  conclude  that  the  Proclamation  was  motivated  by
anti-Muslim  animus.    That  alone  suffices  to  show  that 
plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their Estab­
lishment  Clause  claim.   The  majority  holds  otherwise  by
ignoring the facts, misconstruing our legal precedent, and
turning  a  blind  eye  to  the  pain  and  suffering  the  Procla­
mation  inflicts  upon  countless  families  and  individuals, 
many  of  whom  are  United  States  citizens.  Because  that 
troubling result runs contrary to the Constitution and our
precedent, I dissent.