Page:Kerry v. Din.pdf/32

Rh sleep on a temple floor).

For another thing, the State Department’s reason did not set forth any factual basis for the Government’s decision. Cf., e.g., Wilkinson, 545 U. S., at 225–226 (prison administrators must inform prisoners of "factual basis" for extreme solitary confinement). Perhaps the Department denied the visa because Ms. Din’s husband at one point was a payroll clerk for the Afghan Government when that government was controlled by the Taliban. See ante, at 5 (opinion of ). But there is no way to know if that is so.

The generality of the statutory provision cited and the lack of factual support mean that here, the reason given is analogous to telling a criminal defendant only that he is accused of "breaking the law"; telling a property owner only that he cannot build because environmental rules forbid it; or telling a driver only that police pulled him over because he violated traffic laws. As such, the reason given cannot serve its procedural purpose. It does not permit Ms. Din to assess the correctness of the State Department’s conclusion; it does not permit her to determine what kinds of facts she might provide in response; and it does not permit her to learn whether, or what kind of, defenses might be available. In short, any "reason" that Ms. Din received is not constitutionally adequate.

Seemingly aware that he cannot deny these basic legal principles, rests his conclusions upon two considerations that, in his view, provide sufficient grounds for an exception. Ante, at 5–6. Most importantly, he says that ordinary rules of due process must give way here to national security concerns. But just what are those concerns? And how do they apply here? Ms. Din’s counsel stated at oral argument that there were no such concerns in this case. Tr. of Oral Arg. 35. And the