U.S. Supreme Court limits power of lower courts to block federal policies

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled to limit the ability of lower courts to issue nationwide injunctions that temporarily halt the government’s enforcement of a policy.

For several months, these orders from lower courts have hampered the rollout of President Donald Trump’s agenda. This ruling leaves the future of birthright citizenship unclear, for example, but it could mean the President’s controversial plan to effectively end it may never be enforced.

Roy Herrera, Partner at Herrera Arellano, LLP, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to back President Trump’s effort to curtail lower courts’ orders.

Herrera first explained what a nationwide injunction is.

“Let’s say a federal judge here in the district of Arizona could issue a universal nationwide injunction and that would mean that a law that it’s blocking that, that judge is blocking can’t be implemented in let’s say the southern district of New York or something like that. And traditionally has been a fairly common practice for the district court judges to be able to issue those kinds of injunctions and what we had here in this particular case is the Supreme Court severely limiting if not eliminating the ability of a district court judge to issue an injunction that is that wide in scope,” Herrera said.

He also shared some opposing viewpoints to universal injunctions and what they entail.

“The arguments I think against universal injunctions that a lot of folks would make including some of the Supreme Court justices in the majority would be that actually it is good that we are allowed these issues to be adjudicated in different jurisdictions before different judges. The Supreme Court benefits from that kind of more organic consideration before they make an ultimate decision,” Herrera said.

Herrera also shared insight into the Trump administration’s executive order regarding birthright citizenship.

“We didn’t get decision on the merits that is to say we didn’t get a decision on whether this executive order that the Trump administration has issued on birthright citizenship is constitutional under the 14th amendment. That has still not been decided, eventually that will probably get to the Supreme Court. But right now that is not the case. So what is happening now is the three existing cases that went on appeal up to the Supreme Court, the judges are now going to have to decide what is appropriate relief under this new standard that the Supreme Court has issued,” Herrera said.