Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23a814_febh.pdf
Page Number: 2

2 

UNITED STATES v. TEXAS 

BARRETT, J., concurring 

stay pending appeal is warranted.  That puts this case in a 
very unusual procedural posture. 

Administrative  stays  do  not  typically  reflect  the  court’s 
consideration of the merits of the stay application.  Rather, 
they “freeze legal proceedings until the court can rule on a 
party’s request for expedited relief.”  R. Bayefsky, Adminis-
trative Stays: Power and Procedure, 97 Notre Dame L. Rev. 
1941, 1942 (2022) (Bayefsky).  Deciding whether to grant a
stay pending appeal requires consideration of the four Nken 
factors, which include an assessment of the applicant’s like-
lihood of success on the merits.  That is not always easy to 
evaluate  in  haste,  and  an  administrative  stay  buys  the 
court time to deliberate.1  In June Medical Services, L.L.C. 
v. Gee, for  example, this Court stayed the issuance of the 
lower court’s mandate “[b]ecause the filings regarding the 
application for a stay in this matter were not completed un-
til earlier today and the Justices need time to review these
filings.”  586  U. S.  ___,  ___  (2019).    At  the  same  time,  we 
stressed  that  the  administrative  stay  reflected  no  view  of 
the underlying merits.  Ibid.  June Medical is not an outlier. 
After  receiving  an  emergency  application,  this  Court  fre-
quently  issues  an  administrative  stay  to  permit  time  for 
briefing  and  deliberation—as  JUSTICE  ALITO  did  in  this 
very case.  601 U. S. ___ (2024).  See also, e.g., Murthy  v. 
Missouri, 600 U. S. ___ (2023); Yeshiva Univ. v. YU Pride 
Alliance, 597 U. S. ___ (2022).  The courts of appeals use the 
procedure to the same end.  See, e.g., Trump v. Vance, 2019 
WL  5703884  (CA2,  Oct.  7,  2019);  United  States  v. 
McGowan, 2020 WL 3867418 (CA6, June 28, 2020); Brady 
v. National Football League, 638 F. 3d 1004 (CA8 2011); Al 
Otro Lado v. Wolf, 945 F. 3d 1223 (CA9 2019); Cobell v. Nor-
ton, 2004 WL 603456 (CADC, Mar. 24, 2004) (per curiam); 
—————— 

1 While we have not explained the source of a federal court’s authority 
to enter an administrative stay, commentators have pointed to a court’s 
inherent authority to manage its docket, as well as to the All Writs Act,
28 U. S. C. §1651.  Bayefsky 1960–1964.