US Supreme Court Limits Courts' Power to Issue Nationwide Injunctions

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that lower courts likely overstepped their authority in issuing nationwide injunctions against presidential actions, limiting the ability of the judicial branch to check executive power. Friday’s decision came in response to injunctions from federal courts in Washington, Maryland, and Massachusetts, which sought to block President Donald Trump’s ability to curtail the right to birthright citizenship. The ruling split the court along party lines, with six conservative judges forming the majority and three liberal judges issuing a dissent. The decision was a major victory for the Trump administration, denouncing 'judicial overreach' as an unconstitutional obstacle to its policies.

The Supreme Court’s ruling did not allow Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship to come into immediate effect. It provided a 30-day period before Trump’s order could be applied and ordered the lower courts to bring their injunctions in line with the new decision. The case arrived at the Supreme Court after lower courts had come out strongly against Trump’s efforts to redefine birthright citizenship, a right established under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.

In Friday’s decision, the Supreme Court focused specifically on the federal court injunctions that would stymie the president’s executive orders. The majority argued that the judicial system had strayed from its original mandate with such wide-reaching injunctions. The dissent, however, denounced the decision as an unprecedented assault on the court system, arguing that the focus on injunctions allowed the Trump administration to avoid a ruling on the constitutionality of birthright citizenship.

Shortly after the decision was announced, Trump appeared in the White House press briefing room, celebrating the victory and accusing judges who blocked his policies of being part of the 'radical left'. He framed the decision as paving the way for his executive order on birthright citizenship to take effect. Attorney General Bondi indicated that the Supreme Court would decide the merits of Trump’s birthright citizenship policy in October.

According to the source: Al Jazeera.