Rick HasenVerified account

Leah's analysis is important, as well as her conclusion. Court may NEVER rule on travel ban. What explains partial stay? /1https://twitter.com/LeahLitman/status/879367799021355009 …

I see the partial stay (which allows people with connections to U.S. family, business or university) as a political compromise /2

It has fingerprints of Breyer (especially the writing style) all over it. Likely with support from CJ Roberts, Kagan, Kennedy /3

It splits the difference--let's each side declare victory, as is clear from early reactions--and says little on the merits. /4

And, as @LeahLitman says, there's a good chance the Court never needs to reach the merits. So the partial stay avoids hardships but /5

lets the government credibly claim it can keep out those most likely to do U.S. harm and preserves President's general prerogatives /6

It might be administratively messy (as Leah suggests) and perhaps incoherent as law, but centrist political compromise /7

More broadly it lets us divide #SCOTUS into three camps in these kinds of cases centrist block, hard right, and hard left /8