Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23a814_febh.pdf
Page Number: 10.0

Cite as:  601 U. S. ____ (2023) 

5 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

federal law and authority.”  Ibid. 

Texas appealed to the Fifth Circuit and requested a stay 
pending appeal while the Fifth Circuit considered the Dis-
trict Court’s preliminary injunction.  The next day, in a one-
sentence order, a divided panel of the Fifth Circuit granted
a  “temporary  administrative  stay,”  expedited  the  appeal,
and deferred consideration of the motion for a stay pending 
appeal to the merits panel.  App. to Application to Vacate
Stay in No. 23A814, p. 2a.  Oral argument is set for April 3, 
2024. 

II 

Procedure can be just as consequential as substance.  The 
District Court concluded that S. B. 4 was likely unconstitu-
tional and would cause immediate chaos were it to go into 
effect.  Texas nonetheless asked for permission to enforce
that law while appealing the preliminary injunction.  With-
out  any  reasoned  analysis,  the  Fifth  Circuit  granted  that
relief in a one-line administrative order.  The Fifth Circuit 
abused its discretion, and this Court makes the same mis-
take by permitting a temporary administrative stay to alter 
the status quo that has existed for over a century.

When a court concludes that a law is (or likely is) uncon-
stitutional, that decision generally takes immediate effect
absent a stay.  A stay “ ‘suspend[s] judicial alteration of the 
status quo.’ ”  Nken v. Holder, 556 U. S. 418, 429 (2009).  Be-
cause it can take time to provide considered review of diffi-
cult questions, it is sometimes necessary to “grant prelimi-
nary relief to preserve the status quo ante—before the law
went into effect.”  Whole Woman’s Health  v.  Jackson, 594 
U. S. ___, ___ (2021) (ROBERTS, C. J., dissenting).  To enter 
a stay, a court must first decide that the underlying deci-
sion  is  likely  wrong,  will  cause  irreparable  injury,  and  is
contrary  to  the  public  interest.  Nken,  556  U. S.,  at  429. 
Even this preliminary decision whether to grant a stay can
take time, however.