Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23a521_f2ah.pdf
Page Number: 1.0

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

1 

KAGAN, J., dissenting 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 23A521 
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TERRY PETTEWAY, ET AL. v. GALVESTON COUNTY, 
TEXAS, ET AL. 

ON APPLICATION TO VACATE STAY 

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No. 23A523 
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DICKINSON BAY AREA BRANCH NAACP, ET AL. v. 
GALVESTON COUNTY, TEXAS, ET AL. 

ON APPLICATION TO VACATE STAY 

[December 12, 2023] 

The  applications  to  vacate  stay  presented  to  JUSTICE 

ALITO and by him referred to the Court are denied. 

JUSTICE  KAGAN,  with  whom  JUSTICE  SOTOMAYOR  and 
JUSTICE JACKSON join, dissenting from the denial of appli-
cations to vacate stay. 

I would grant the applications to vacate the stay issued 
by the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  The Fifth Cir-
cuit’s stay itself disrupted the status quo—an election map 
concededly lawful under Circuit precedent and nearly iden-
tical to the maps that have governed the election of Galves-
ton County’s commissioners for decades.  In imposing a dif-
ferent  map,  acknowledged  to  violate  current  law—on  the
theory that the Circuit might someday change that law—
the Court of Appeals went far beyond its proper authority.
I respectfully dissent from this Court’s denial of the appli-
cations.