The Law School’s Jenner & Block Supreme Court and Appellate Clinic, working alongside Jenner & Block attorneys and lawyers from the CAIR Legal Defense Fund, helped secure a legal victory before the US Supreme Court for an American citizen who alleged that he had been unconstitutionally put on the No Fly List and stranded overseas for four years.

In a 9-0 opinion, the Court ruled that Yonas Fikre’s civil rights action against the US government could go forward despite his subsequent removal from the No Fly List and the government’s promise it would not put him on the list “based on the currently available information.”

In rejecting the government’s claim that taking Mr. Fikre off the No Fly List made the action moot, the Court agreed with the argument of the clinic and other lawyers representing Mr. Fikre that the vague assurance did not end the potential threat to his civil liberties.

“[I]t is the defendant’s ‘burden to establish’ that it cannot reasonably be expected to resume its challenged conduct—whether the suit happens to be new or long lingering, and whether the challenged conduct might recur immediately or later at some more propitious moment,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote. “Nothing the government offers here satisfies that formidable standard.”

The clinic became involved in the case at the Supreme Court merits stage, after the Court granted certiorari in the case. The clinic’s students worked on research and drafting projects in this case, alongside lawyers from the team.

“We’re grateful for the opportunity to be part of the team representing Mr. Fikre in this important case and unanimous win,” said clinic co-director Sarah Konsky.

The decision is Federal Bureau of Investigation v.  Fikre.