Breyer, J., dissenting
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
No. 13–1402
JOHN F. KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE, ET AL.,
PETITIONERS v. FAUZIA DIN
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
[June 15, 2015]
Justice Breyer, with whom Justice Ginsburg, Justice Sotomayor, and Justice Kagan join, dissenting.
Fauzia Din, an American citizen, wants to know why the State Department denied a visa to her husband, a noncitizen. She points out that, without a visa, she and her husband will have to spend their married lives separately or abroad. And she argues that the Department, in refusing to provide an adequate reason for the denial, has violated the constitutional requirement that "[n]o person . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." U. S. Const., Amdt. 5.
In my view, Ms. Din should prevail on this constitutional claim. She possesses the kind of "liberty" interest to which the Due Process Clause grants procedural protection. And the Government has failed to provide her with the procedure that is constitutionally "due." See Swarthout v. Cooke, 562 U. S. 216, 219 (2011) (per curiam) (setting forth the Court’s two-step inquiry for procedural due process claims). Accordingly, I would affirm the judgment of the Ninth Circuit.
I
The plurality opinion (which is not controlling) concludes that Ms. Din lacks the kind of liberty interest to which the Due Process Clause provides procedural protec-
