United States ex rel. Accardi v. Shaughnessy

Joseph Accardi (plaintiff), an immigrant facing deportation, applied for suspension of deportation. Under the applicable regulation detailing the procedure to be followed in processing an alien’s application for suspension of deportation, decisions on such applications were to be made independently at three separate administrative levels below the Attorney General. First, by a hearing officer with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), then by the Commissioner of Immigration, and finally by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). After several hearings, an INS hearing officer found Accardi deportable and recommended denying discretionary relief. The Acting Commissioner of Immigration adopted the officer’s findings and recommendation. However, before Accardi’s case went to the BIA for a final decision, the Attorney General compiled and distributed among agency employees a list of persons he was targeting for deportation. Accardi’s name was on the list. Shortly after, the BIA affirmed the hearing officer’s decision in Accardi’s case and issued a warrant for Accardi’s deportation. Accardi filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court, alleging that the Attorney General’s circulation of the list deprived him of a fair and independent review by the BIA, as was required by the agency’s regulations. The district court denied Accardi’s petition, and the Second Circuit affirmed. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.