Florida sued California for giving a trucking license to illegal alien drivers who don’t even speak the language, including one who killed three people, Harjinder Singh.
Justice Clarence Thomas issued a dissenting opinion joined by fellow Justice Samuel Alito as the Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a Florida lawsuit against California over allegedly issuing commercial truck driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants (illegal aliens).
Florida launched the lawsuit after a car crash last year, when three people died in an accident involving a truck driven by an Indian man, Harjinder Singh. Singh was making a U-turn on a major highway while allegedly high on drugs. He drove at a high speed and didn’t brake before he plowed into the car.
The people in the car, all relatives, never had a chance.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier argued that California and Washington violated federal law and endangered public safety by allowing allegedly unqualified drivers to obtain commercial driver’s licenses despite their routine operation across state lines.
“California’s and Washington’s decision to endanger their own citizens is reprehensible,” Florida argued in court filings, contending the policies amounted to a public nuisance affecting other states.
The lawsuit cited several deadly crashes nationwide involving truck drivers allegedly in the country illegally.
JUST IN: The truck driver who is accused of killing 3 people by slamming into the back of multiple vehicles in California has been identified as Jashanpreet Singh, according to KTLA.
The 21-year-old was allegedly on drugs while speeding.
California Highway Patrol says Singh… pic.twitter.com/INPNDkKEi8
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 22, 2025
A majority of Supreme Court justices ultimately declined to grant Florida leave to file its complaint.
Florida Has Nowhere to Turn Now
The decision keeps California’s and Washington’s licensing practices in place but did not come without opposition on the bench.
“This Court declines to even hear Florida’s claims, even though it has nowhere else to bring them. Because I would allow Florida to file its complaint, I respectfully dissent,” Thomas wrote in his dissent, which Justice Alito joined.
Thomas wrote that the court has “exclusive jurisdiction” in this case and that he doubts the court “has discretion to refuse to hear cases within its exclusive original jurisdiction.”
He said the court, nonetheless, has adopted a “discretionary approach to its exclusive original jurisdiction” based on policy judgments. But even under that approach, he said he believes the court should have granted Florida leave because it meets standards of “seriousness and dignity” as well as “availability of an alternative forum in which the issue tendered can be resolved.”
Now, no one is going to do a thing.
Thomas dissent: “If Florida were an independent nation, it “might resolve [this] dispute by diplomacy, by submitting it to international arbitration, or by self-help measures.” Ibid. By entering the Union, States agree to instead have such disputes resolved by this Court.” https://t.co/JVQoIatHJh
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) May 26, 2026