Justices Side with U.S. in Dispute Over Immigration Reentry (1)

The U.S. Supreme Court sided with the government in saying prosecutors can seek to more harshly punish one-time green card holders whose deportations are based on rules that were later invalidated.

In a unanimous ruling authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the justices on Monday resolved a circuit split in finding the government can charge deported former permanent residents for unlawful reentry even though convictions that led to their removal in the first place were legally flawed. Penalties are harsher for reentering the country illegally.

The justices reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which said Mexican national ...