USA v. State of Texas
Split Score
What is a Split Score?
This score (0-100) indicates how likely this case is to be reviewed by the Supreme Court based on:
Case Summary
Disposition
Affirmed
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s refusal to let advocacy groups and a community college intervene in a consent judgment that struck down portions of Texas’s in-state-tuition statute as pre-empted by 8 U.S.C. § 1623(a). Applying a de novo standard of review, the panel held that intervention would be futile because § 1623(a) expressly preempts the challenged state provisions and the would-be intervenors offered no viable defense.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
What is the correct appellate standard of review for a district court's denial of a motion to intervene as of right under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2)?
Circuit Positions
Denial of intervention as of right is reviewed de novo.
Denial of intervention as of right is reviewed for abuse-of-discretion (deferential standard).
Conflict Summary
Several circuits, including the Fifth, hold that denials of intervention as of right are reviewed de novo, while other circuits apply a more deferential abuse-of-discretion standard.