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U.S. Supreme Court Half-Answers Jerusalem Passport Question
(Politico) Josh Gerstein - The U.S. Supreme Court declined to issue a definitive ruling Monday in a longstanding dispute about whether U.S. passports for citizens born in Jerusalem should, upon request, identify the place of birth as Israel. However, the justices ruled, 8-1, that the lower courts erred when they refused to weigh in on the case after deeming that it raised a "political question." Six justices held that the "political question doctrine" does not apply where a statute conveys a clear right to individuals. The State Department, under President George W. Bush and then President Barack Obama, said the statute intruded on the president's prerogative to make foreign policy. The majority opinion appeared to suggest, but did not say outright, that the plaintiff in the case, Benjamin Zivotofsky, had the better argument.