Margolin v. National Assoc. of Immigration Judges (party presentation)

Send us Fan MailThe Supreme Court in Margolin v. National Association of Immigration Judges reversed the Fourth Circuit for violating the principle of party presentation. The National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ) challenged a policy about immigration judge's public speaking in federal district court on First and Fifth Amendment grounds, but both the district court and the parties agreed that most employment-related claims are generally governed by the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA), which channels disputes through the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). NAIJ argued only that its specific claims were not covered by the CSRA and thus could proceed in district court. The Fourth Circuit, however, remanded the case based on a broader legal theory that neither party had raised—whether current conditions affecting the MSPB might undermine Congress’s intent to channel all covered claims. The Supreme Court held this violated the party-presentation principle, emphasizing that courts must decide only the issues presented by the parties and cannot invent new grounds for decision.Support the show