U.S. Supreme Court Issues Decision to Limit Nationwide Injunctions

On June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in the case Trump v. CASA, which limited the ability of federal courts to grant nationwide injunctions, finding that doing so likely exceeds the equitable authority that Congress has granted to the federal courts. The implication of this ruling means that it will be more difficult to challenge or limit enforcement of federal policies in the future.

The issue in the case centered on the enforceability of President Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship, the automatic granting of citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, regardless of the parents’ citizenship status. Enforcement of the executive order was blocked by three federal courts and upheld by appellate courts in the First, Fourth and Ninth Circuits.

In this case, the Supreme Court did not rule on the constitutionality of the executive order, but rather determined that it exceeded these courts’ authority to issue universal injunctions. As a result, future litigants outside of the jurisdictions that have blocked the order will now have to bring their own challenges against the order or seek to file a nationwide class action lawsuit, which is a higher standard.

The Supreme Court’s decision will significantly impact the ability of litigants to use the federal court system to overturn future executive orders or federal laws. While this decision is being heralded as a victory by the Trump Administration, the impact of the decision will impact both Republican and Democratic administrations in the future, making it more difficult to pushback and curtail executive actions.