Demore v. Kim, 538 U.S. 510, 28 (2003)

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Cite as: 538 U. S. 510 (2003)

Opinion of O'Connor, J.

decision or action by the Attorney General to commence proceedings, adjudicate cases, or execute removal orders against any alien under this [Act]." 8 U. S. C. § 1252(g) (1994 ed., Supp. III). The Court concluded that this provision imposes jurisdictional limits only on claims addressing one of the three " 'decision[s] or action[s]' " specifically enumerated in the statute. AADC, supra, at 482. Nowhere in AADC did the Court suggest, however, that the statute's jurisdictional limits might not apply depending on the particular grounds raised by an alien for challenging the Attorney General's decisions or actions in these three areas. AADC therefore provides no support for imposing artificial limitations on the broad scope of 8 U. S. C. § 1226(e).

II

Because § 1226(e) plainly deprives courts of federal habeas jurisdiction over claims that mandatory detention under § 1226(c) is unconstitutional, one could conceivably argue that such a repeal violates the Suspension Clause, which provides as follows: "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it." U. S. Const., Art. I, § 9, cl. 2. The clarity of § 1226(e)'s text makes such a question unavoidable, unlike in St. Cyr, where the Court invoked the doctrine of constitutional doubt and interpreted the relevant provisions of AEDPA and IIRIRA not to repeal habeas jurisdiction. St. Cyr, supra, at 314; see also Seminole Tribe of Fla. v. Florida, 517 U. S. 44, 57, n. 9 (1996) (where the text of a statute is clear, the "preference for avoiding a constitutional question" cannot be invoked to defeat the plainly expressed intent of Congress).

In my view, any argument that § 1226(e) violates the Suspension Clause is likely unavailing. St. Cyr held that "at the absolute minimum, the Suspension Clause protects the writ 'as it existed in 1789.' " 533 U. S., at 301 (quoting Felker v. Turpin, 518 U. S. 651, 663-664 (1996)). The consti-

537

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