Mandamus decisions / Eastern District of Arkansas
Ruston v. U.S. Department of State
Read the decisionOriginal on CourtListener
2,914 written decisions from 2,661 cases in the whole mandamus and agency-delay group, the group's newest decided October 30, 2026. Updated November 3, 2026 at 1:24 a.m. CT; the Passim connector counts the live collection, which can differ by the day's additions and retirements (which total to quote). Coverage: of the 1,606 public decisions since January 1, 2025 that a CourtListener and GovInfo search for mandamus and agency delay finds, Passim holds 1,371 (85%), measured November 3, 2026. Some of what that search finds are not mandamus decisions. Tell us about a decision we're missing.
These are counts of past written decisions and dockets, not predictions of how any case will be decided. A distribution appears only when at least 5 decisions (or 5 dockets) are behind it; smaller groups are listed, not summarized. How it's counted.
What the decision decided
Each value cites the passage it was read from. Values read by a model were checked against that passage; values read by rule come from fixed text patterns. Read the decision before relying on either.
| Agency |
Department of State
Read by a model
Later he learned that the State Department had revoked the visa in May of 1996. |
|---|---|
| Form or filing |
B-1; L-1
Read by a model
Presently, the Rustons do not possess B-1 visas and the issue of Peter Ruston's L-1 status is the subject of a pending administrative proceeding. |
| What the suit asked for | Not recorded Read by a model |
| Kind of order |
A ruling on a motion or the petition
Read by a model
The Court hereby grants the defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction [Docket No. 13]. |
| Motion decided |
Motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction; Summary judgment
Read by a model
Additionally, the Court concludes that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction to hear this case and hereby grants the defendants' 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss. |
| Whose motion |
The government's motion
Read by a model
The defendants filed a motion requesting dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction [Docket No. 13] |
| Disposition |
Dismissed
The case or every delay claim was dismissed for a reason other than mootness.
Read by a model
The Court hereby grants the defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction [Docket No. 13]. |
| Prevailing party |
Government
Read by a model
Additionally, the Court concludes that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction to hear this case and hereby grants the defendants' 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss. |
| The other claims |
Dismissed
Read by a model
The Court hereby grants the defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction [Docket No. 13]. |
| Months pending | Not stated Read by a model |
| TRAC factors | The court did not weigh the TRAC factors Read by a model |
| Threshold rulings |
Consular nonreviewability applied
Read by a model
If the Court granted such a remedy, it would, in effect, claim for itself the power to issue visas. Only consular officers may issue visas. |
| Nationality |
Australia
Read by a model
On December 16, 1996, Peter Ruston, an Australian, attempted to enter the United States. |
How the case ended
This decision is not linked to a docket in the docket record yet, so how the case ended is not shown.
Supreme Court and Eighth Circuit authority
District decisions bind no one. On the questions this decision raises, the Supreme Court decisions and the circuit's published decisions listed here bind this court; a circuit disposition marked nonprecedential was not published as precedent and is persuasive only. ImmCite status as read November 3, 2026. Check the current status before relying on one.
-
Trump v. Hawaii, 585 U.S. 667
Supreme Court, June 26, 2018. Mandel's facially-legitimate-and-bona-fide standard governs constitutional challenges to entry restrictions, and a citation to a valid statutory ground ordinarily satisfies it.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
-
Department of State v. Muñoz, 602 U.S. 899
Supreme Court, June 21, 2024. A U.S. citizen has no fundamental liberty interest in a noncitizen spouse's admission, so marriage alone entitles the citizen neither to Mandel review of the consular refusal nor to an explanation beyond the statutory citation.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
-
Kleindienst v. Mandel, 408 U.S. 753
Supreme Court, June 29, 1972. When a visa refusal burdens a U.S. citizen's own constitutional rights, courts ask only whether the Executive gave a facially legitimate and bona fide reason and do not look behind it.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
-
Norton v. Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 542 U.S. 55
Supreme Court, June 14, 2004. Section 706(1) and mandamus reach only a discrete agency action that the agency is legally required to take, so a court cannot compel programmatic improvements or action the law leaves to agency discretion.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
-
Doan v. INS, 160 F.3d 508
Eighth Circuit, February 5, 1999. Decisions excluding noncitizens abroad are not reviewable without a clear statutory grant, and an overseas INS director deciding admissibility is the functional equivalent of a consular officer.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
-
Thigulla v. Jaddou, 94 F.4th 770
Eighth Circuit, March 5, 2024. Section 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) and § 1255(a) bar review of USCIS's decision to delay adjudicating adjustment applications under its adjudication hold policy, so the district court lacked jurisdiction.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
-
Eighth Circuit, December 21, 2018. The Eighth Circuit applies the TRAC factors to a petition to compel delayed agency action.
ImmCite: unchecked, treatment not confirmed yet, not evidence either way. ImmCite has not finished reviewing this published circuit decision, so it shows no signal yet. Its review began with circuit decisions in immigration cases and is being extended to the other published circuit decisions that immigration precedent relies on. Read the decisions…