Purcell v. Gonzalez

Summary

In a per curiam opinion issued days before the November 7, 2006 election, the Supreme Court construed emergency filings by Arizona and four county officials as petitions for certiorari, granted them, and vacated a Ninth Circuit motions panel's unexplained four-sentence injunction against enforcement of Proposition 200's voter identification provisions. The Court held that, as a procedural matter, the Court of Appeals was required to defer to the District Court's discretion, and that its issuance of a bare order without findings or reasoning—while the District Court had found only a possibility, not a strong likelihood, of plaintiff success—was error. Expressing no opinion on the ultimate merits, the Court allowed the election to proceed without an injunction suspending the voter identification rules and remanded for further proceedings. Justice Stevens, concurring, agreed with the result and emphasized that letting the election proceed would give the courts a better factual record on the unresolved disenfranchisement and voter-fraud questions.