WASHINGTON — The U.S Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide a case from Los Angeles on whether foreigners who are held for deportation are entitled to hearings that could lead to their release on bond.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the government must provide a bond hearing and prove by “clear and convincing evidence” that detainees would pose a flight risk if set free.

Obama administration lawyers, in a strongly worded appeal, accused the appeals court of a “radical revision” of the law that governs foreigners who are picked up trying to enter the country illegally and criminals who are being held for deportation.

“Throughout the history of U.S. immigration law, Congress has never provided bond hearings for aliens detained at the threshold of entry to the country,” U.S. Solicitor Gen. Donald Verrilli said in asking the high court to consider the case. The law says foreigners with criminal records “shall be detained” and deported, he said.

Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union had won the appeals court ruling after suing in federal court in Los Angeles and arguing that people who are held for more than six months deserve a hearing.

Verrilli said the 9th Circuit's ruling, if adopted nationwide, would pose a threat to public safety and put a heavy burden on the immigration system.

The high court said it would hear the case in the fall.

In a second case from Los Angeles, the court cast doubt on whether “service advisers” who work at auto dealerships are entitled to overtime pay.

The federal law that sets minimum wages and extra pay for overtime had long included an exemption for “any salesman” who is “primarily engaged in selling or servicing automobiles.” The notion was that these employees were paid commissions on their sales, not for the hours they worked.

This exemption had also covered the more than 40,000 service advisers at car dealerships nationwide who advise customers who need work on their vehicles; they too receive commissions. But in 2011, the Labor Department announced a new rule that limited the exemption to salespeople only, not service advisers.

When service advisers at Encino Motor Cars, a Mercedes-Benz dealership, sued seeking overtime pay, a federal judge initially dismissed their claim, citing the earlier exemption. But they won before the 9th Circuit court, which relied on the Labor Department's new policy.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal, and on Monday set aside the 9th Circuit's decision.

The case now goes back to the 9th Circuit.

dsavage@tribune.com