Trump v. Orr

Summary

The unsigned Court granted the Government’s application to stay the District Court’s preliminary injunction against its policy requiring new passports to display sex at birth, pending appeal and any timely sought Supreme Court review. At this preliminary stage, the Court concluded that the Government was likely to defeat the equal-protection and arbitrary-and-capricious challenges and would suffer irreparable injury from the class-wide injunction against an Executive Branch policy with foreign affairs implications. Justice Jackson dissented, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Kagan. She argued that the Government had demonstrated no urgent, concrete harm from delaying implementation, while the plaintiffs had established substantial risks of harassment, invasive searches, psychological distress, and other injuries. She also disputed the Court’s preliminary merits assessment, particularly its treatment of the agency’s obligations under the Administrative Procedure Act.