Supreme Court, in 6-3 Vote, Limits Federal Judges' Power to Issue Nationwide Injunctions

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision on Friday, curtailed the ability of individual federal court judges to issue nationwide injunctions that block government policies across the entire country. The significant ruling, authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, emerged from a case challenging President Donald Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship, though the Court explicitly avoided ruling on the merits of that underlying policy.

This decision marks a notable shift in the balance of power between the judiciary and the executive branch. Nationwide injunctions have been a contentious issue, with critics arguing they allow a single judge to halt a policy nationwide, exceeding traditional judicial authority. Justice Barrett's majority opinion asserted that "universal injunctions likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has given to federal courts."

The case originated from legal challenges to President Trump's executive order, signed on his first day back in office, which sought to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the U.S. whose parents are not citizens or lawful permanent residents. Lower courts had previously issued universal injunctions against this order, citing its potential conflict with the 14th Amendment's citizenship clause. The Supreme Court's ruling, however, did not address the constitutionality of Trump's birthright citizenship policy itself, focusing instead on the scope of judicial remedies.

The Court's three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented from the majority opinion. Justice Sotomayor, writing for the dissent, argued that the ruling "disregards basic principles of equity as well as the long history of injunctive relief granted to nonparties." She contended that universal injunctions serve as a crucial tool to protect large groups of people from potentially unconstitutional executive actions.

The decision grants a partial stay of the existing injunctions, directing lower courts to reconsider their broad rulings and allowing Trump's birthright citizenship order to potentially take effect in 30 days, albeit with a narrower scope. President Trump hailed the ruling as a "monumental victory for the Constitution, the separation of powers and the rule of law," suggesting it would enable his administration to advance various policies previously blocked. Legal experts noted the ruling leaves open the possibility of class-action lawsuits as a means to achieve broader relief, potentially leading to new legal battles over executive actions.