The court ruled that a nationwide injunction is the only way to provide complete relief to the state government plaintiffs in the case.
The judgment is not surprising, since the president's reading of the 14th Amendment contradicts its text and history, plus 127 years of Supreme Court precedent.
Judge Bumatay objects on standing grounds, arguing that courts should not seek to offset narrowing one form of relief by expanding another: "That would be like squeezing one end of a balloon—it just pushes all the air to the other end."
Trump v. CASA was important, but it is not clear district courts have gotten the message.
This ruling was widely expected in the wake of the Supreme Court's decison barring nationwide injunctions.
Tellingly, the president avoided defending his dubious interpretation of the 14th Amendment at the Supreme Court.
"Lower courts lost, and the executive branch got mixed results."
Justice Kagan said "it just can't be right" that a single court judge can stop a federal policy in its tracks nationwide.
Two worthwhile commentaries on the Supreme Court's decision to curtail universal injunctions.
“Federal courts do not exercise general oversight of the Executive Branch,” declared Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Today's Supreme Court ruling barring nationwide injunctions could empower the federal government to engage in large-scale violations of the Constitution. Exactly how bad the consequences will be depends on the extent to which other remedies can be used to forestall them.
The two newest justices spar over universal injunctions.
Justice Barrett writes for the Court's majority that universal injunctions likely exceed the equitable power of federal courts.
The Senate has adopted its own version of a provision designed to limit preliminary injunctions against the federal government when no bond is posted.
Kovarsky and Rave defend the use of class actions in AEA habeas cases. Vladeck highlights the significance of the Supreme Court's grant of an injunction to a "putative class" of AEA detainees.
Nationwide illegality by the federal government requires a nationwide remedy.
