Opinion of the Court in Trump v. CASA
Lower Courts Cannot Issue Nationwide Injunctions
The United States has filed three emergency applications challenging the scope of a federal court’s authority to enjoin government officials from enforcing an executive order. Traditionally, courts issued injunctions prohibiting executive officials from enforcing a challenged law or policy only against the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The injunctions before us today reflect a more recent development: district courts asserting the power to prohibit enforcement of a law or policy against anyone. These injunctions — known as “universal injunctions” — likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has granted to federal courts. We therefore grant the government’s applications to partially stay…
