The article does not explain why three justices were ineligible to rule on the case. Does anyone else know why?
The case was heard on January 18 before Neil Gorsuch was appointed. It is an eight year old case orginally filed in 2009. Sotomayer and Kagen may have been involved in earlier iterations or other immigration issues before joining the court. The decision say the same as posted in the article and does not elaborate on why.
It’s most likely because they weren’t in the judicial system on 9/11/2001