Supreme Court Limits Power of Federal Judges

by Brian Dugas

Supreme Court decision to limit federal judges ability to pass nationwide injunctions.

The President issued an Executive Order ending birthright citizenship for US born children of parents who are in the country illegally. Judges in three states: Maryland, Washington, and Massachusetts issued nationwide injunctions saying that was unconstitutional.

The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution provides that all children born in the United States are automatically American citizens.

The administration brought this case to the Supreme Court in Trump v. CASA, but not to address the issue of the legality of ending birthright citizenship, but to restrict judges from having the authority to issue nationwide, or universal injunctions that have blocked many orders from being implemented by numerous Presidents, not just the current President. The administration complained that the judges are overreaching by issuing orders that apply to everyone, not just the parties involved.

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision to restrict federal judges ability to issue nationwide injunctions allows the administration to move forward with the Executive Order that is redefining birthright citizenship. This will most likely end up back in the Supreme Court in the future, since it is spelled out in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. On the issue of limiting judges ability to issue injunctions - one of the three dissenting Justice’s Justice Sotomayor read a scathing dissent out loud saying that this decision is a “gross mistake, no right is safe now in this country” she used the example that a President could issue an order seizing guns, and they could do that until the Supreme Court had a chance to review it. Some of the recent Federal judges injunctions now in question - mass federal layoff’s, freezes on funding - now no longer in effect?

The Department of Justice has just recently posted a memo online prioritizing its efforts. 

• Gives attorney’s wide discretion to decide when to pursue the denaturalization process in order to advance the administration's policy objectives. And while the priority goes to individuals who pose a danger to national security, the memo also states that it can seek out cases that are sufficiently important to pursue including cases “involving undisclosed criminal records or procedural errors during naturalization”. (ABC News, Armando Garcia, July 1, 2025)
• The other priorities in the DOJ’s memo are: ending Anti-Semitism
  
• Taking legal action against sanctuary states and jurisdictions.

Reminders:

• Social Action Committee is working with the Community Justice Alliance on Latino issues
• PA Pardons Project
• Need to start collecting for the Bear Creek Camp