Department of State v. Muñoz
The Court held that a "citizen does not have a fundamental liberty interest in her noncitizen spouse being admitted to the country."
144 S. Ct. 1812 · No. 23-334 · 2023 term · Roberts Court
Decided Jun 21, 2024 · argued Apr 23, 2024
Civil rights · Immigration and naturalization: miscellaneous
Majority opinion: Amy Barrett
The voteMajorityDissent
6–36 in the majority, 3 in dissent
3 dissents (6–3)
Reversed and remanded. Department of State won.
What this ruling means
Reversed and remanded: the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit and sent the case back to that court for further proceedings that follow the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Department of State was the petitioner, the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the case. “Won” means the Court gave that side the result it asked for.
From the Supreme Court Database. A justice who agreed with the result but not the reasoning counts in the majority.
Summary
The opening of the case’s Wikipedia article: what the case was about and what the Court held.
Department of State v. Muñoz, 602 U.S. 899 (2024), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a "citizen does not have a fundamental liberty interest in her noncitizen spouse being admitted to the country." The case was a challenge by a U.S. citizen to the State Department's rejection of her non-citizen husband's application for an immigration visa with little explanation.
In the majority opinion by Justice Barrett, the Supreme Court concluded that history and tradition supported Congress's authority to decide whether a citizen's spouse may enter the country. As such, the majority concluded that the right to marry does not create an exception to consular nonreviewability, under which courts may not review the denial of a visa application.
The three dissenting justices, in an opinion by Justice Sotomayor, said that such a visa denial burdens the fundamental right of marriage, defined broadly in cases like Obergefell v. Hodges, such that the courts may scrutinize whether the government gave a facially legitimate explanation for the denial. However, they thought that the government had sufficiently explained the visa denial by saying it was based on suspected gang affiliation.
Data notes
The text is Wikipedia’s (CC BY-SA 4.0), matched to the case by its citation, docket number or name and year, and is not checked against the opinion. The site keeps the article’s opening section, ending on its last full sentence. The one-sentence summary under the title is the Decisions list’s: Wikipedia’s own ruling sentence, or, tagged “AI-written”, one Claude wrote from this opening.
How the justices voted
Each justice who took part, placed by their Martin–Quinn ideology score for the 2023 term. Filled: the 6 in the majority. Hollow: the 3 in dissent. Colour is the party of the president who appointed them.
Majority(6)
Amy BarrettWrote the majority opinion
Neil GorsuchWrote a concurrence
John RobertsJoined the majority
Brett KavanaughJoined the majority
Samuel AlitoJoined the majority
Clarence ThomasJoined the majority
Dissent(3)
Sonia SotomayorWrote a dissent
Ketanji JacksonJoined a dissent
Elena KaganJoined a dissent
Data notes
Each justice’s vote and what they wrote are from the justice-centered file of the Supreme Court Database. “Wrote a concurrence” means the justice sided with the majority and wrote separately; a justice who dissented in part is counted on the side they took overall. A justice who wrote nothing is listed as joining their side.
Positions are each justice’s Martin–Quinn score for the case’s term, the same scores as the Ideology page: negative is more liberal, positive more conservative. A score sums up a justice’s votes across the whole term, so it says where they usually sit, not why they voted as they did here. The median line is the Court’s median justice that term.
The parties
Who brought the case to the Court, who answered it, and how it got there.
- Petitioner
- Department of StateDepartment or Secretary of State
- Respondent
- MuñozWife, or ex-wife
- Reached the Court by
- Certiorari (the Court chose to hear it)
- Why it was taken
- Federal appeals courts had ruled differently, and the question was important
Data notes
The names are the two sides of the case’s title. The description under each is the Supreme Court Database’s category for that party, in its own wording. The petitioner is the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the decision below. “Why it was taken” appears only when the majority opinion says lower courts disagreed or were unsure about the question; reasons that would fit any case (“to resolve the question presented”, “an important question”) are left out.
The law at issue
The law the Court was asked to apply, and the kind of power it used to decide.
- Provision
- Fifth Amendment (due process)
- Kind of law
- Constitutional Amendment
- Decided by
- Judicial review (national level)
Data notes
The Supreme Court Database codes the main constitutional provision, statute or court rule each case turned on, and the basis of the decision: judicial review of a federal or state law, interpreting a statute, supervising the lower courts, and so on. A case can rest on more than one. “Overruled” counts only where the majority opinion says so.
Timeline
What happened at the Court and how the case got there, newest first.
- Jun 21, 2024DecidedDecided · Decided 6–3: reversed and remanded. Department of State won.
- Apr 23, 2024ArguedArgued · Oral argument before the Court.
- Not datedTaken upTaken up · The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case (certiorari). Federal appeals courts had ruled differently, and the question was important.
- Not datedCourt belowCourt below · Decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit: vacated, with a dissent.
- Not datedBeganBegan · The case began in the California Central U.S. District Court.
Data notes
From the Supreme Court Database: the court the case began in, the court whose decision the Supreme Court reviewed and what that court did, how the case came to the Court, and the dates of argument and decision. The database does not date the steps in the lower courts. Court names are the database’s.
Other decisions on the same issue
16 other argued cases since 1946 on immigration and naturalization: miscellaneous, newest first.
- Mullin v. al Otro Lado146 S. Ct. 2079Jun 25, 2026 · 146 S. Ct. 2079Civil rights6–36–3 band
- Urias-Orellana v. Bondi607 U.S. 537Mar 4, 2026 · 607 U.S. 537Civil rights9–0Unanimous band
- Wilkinson v. Garland601 U.S. 209Mar 19, 2024 · 601 U.S. 209Civil rights6–36–3 band
- Pugin v. Garland599 U.S. 600Jun 22, 2023 · 599 U.S. 600Civil rights6–36–3 band
- Garland v. Ming Dai141 S. Ct. 1669Jun 1, 2021 · 141 S. Ct. 1669Civil rights9–0Unanimous band
- Niz-Chavez v. Garland, Attorney General141 S. Ct. 1474Apr 29, 2021 · 141 S. Ct. 1474Civil rights6–36–3 band
- Barton v. Barr140 S. Ct. 1442Apr 23, 2020 · 140 S. Ct. 1442Civil rights5–45–4 band
- Trump, President of U.S. v. HawaiiLandmark · Foreign138 S. Ct. 2392Jun 26, 2018 · 138 S. Ct. 2392Civil rightsLandmark · Foreign5–45–4 band
- Jennings v. Rodriguez138 S. Ct. 830Feb 27, 2018 · 138 S. Ct. 830Civil rights5–36–3 band
- Kerry v. Din576 U.S. 86Jun 15, 2015 · 576 U.S. 86Civil rights5–45–4 band
- Ignacio Carlos Flores-Figueroa v. United States556 U.S. 646May 4, 2009 · 556 U.S. 646Civil rights9–0Unanimous band
- Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board535 U.S. 137Mar 27, 2002 · 535 U.S. 137Civil rights5–45–4 band
- Ronald W. Reagan, President of the United States, et al. v. James Abourezk et al.484 U.S. 1Oct 19, 1987 · 484 U.S. 1Civil rights3–36–3 band
- Rosenberg, District Director, Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Yee Chien Woo402 U.S. 49Apr 21, 1971 · 402 U.S. 49Civil rights5–45–4 band
- International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, Local 37, et al. v. Boyd, District Director, Immigration and Naturalization Service347 U.S. 222Mar 8, 1954 · 347 U.S. 222Civil rights7–27–2 band
- Clark, Attorney General, As Successor to the Alien Property Custodian, v. Allen et al.331 U.S. 503Jun 9, 1947 · 331 U.S. 503Civil rights9–0Unanimous band
Data notes
Every other orally argued case with a clear vote, from the 1946 term on, that the Supreme Court Database files under the same issue as this one. The database gives each case one issue from a list of about 270 (abortion, search and seizure of vehicles, the death penalty, and so on), whatever law it turned on.
Official record
Read the argument audio on Oyez and Wikipedia. Case data from the Supreme Court Database, Version 2026 Release 01, through the 2025 term.