Page:Kerry v. Din.pdf/29

6 law. It is that rule of law, stretching back at least 800 years to Magna Carta, which in major part the Due Process Clause seeks to protect. Hurtado v. California, 110 U. S. 516, 527 (1884).

Here, we need not consider all possible procedural due process elements. Rather we consider only the minimum procedure that Ms. Din has requested—namely, a statement of reasons, some kind of explanation, as to why the State Department denied her husband a visa.

We have often held that this kind of statement, permitting an individual to understand why the government acted as it did, is a fundamental element of due process. See, e.g., Goldberg, 397 U. S., at 267–268;Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U. S. 593, 603 (1972); Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U. S. 471, 485, 489 (1972); Wolff, supra, at 563–564; Goss, supra, at 581; Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U. S. 319, 345–346 (1976); ''Cleveland Bd. of Ed. v. Loudermill, 470 U. S. 532, 546 (1985);Wilkinson, 545 U. S., at 224; Hamdi'', supra, at 533 (plurality opinion).

That is so in part because a statement of reasons, even one provided after a visa denial, serves much the same function as a "notice" of a proposed action. It allows Ms. Din, who suffered a "serious loss," a fair "opportunity to meet" "the case" that has produced separation from her husband. See Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Comm. v.McGrath, 341 U. S. 123, 171–172 (1951) (Frankfurter, J., concurring); see also Hamdi, supra, at 533 (plurality opinion); Wolff, supra, at 563; Friendly, supra, at 1280 ("notice" must provide "the grounds for" the relevant action). Properly apprised of the grounds for the Government’s action, Ms. Din can then take appropriate action—whether this amounts to an appeal, internal agency review, or (as is likely here) an opportunity to submit additional evidence and obtain reconsideration, 22 CFR 42.81(e) (2014).

I recognize that our due process cases often determine