Flores ex rel. Galvez-Maldonado v. Meese

I respectfully dissent. As Chief Justice Rehnquist observed, “In our society liberty is the norm, and detention prior to trial or without trial is the carefully limited exception.” United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 755, 107 S.Ct. 2095, 2105, 95 L.Ed.2d 697 (1987). The majority goes to great lengths to deny liberty to children whose only possible offense is their alienage.

The facts of this case are among the most disturbing I have confronted in my years on the court. Children are being held in detention by the INS for as long as two years in highly inappropriate conditions out of a…