Justice Thomas Questions Nationwide Injunctions in Birthright Citizenship Case

Nationwide Injunctions and Complete Relief

• 🎯 The attorney argues that universal injunctive relief is appropriate when necessary to provide complete relief to plaintiffs, a point the government's counsel seemed to agree with.
• ⚖️ The Supreme Court has a history of recognizing universal injunctive relief in extraordinary circumstances, particularly when considering the public interest and equities.

Challenging the Government's Proposal

• 🏛️ The government's proposal to channel all relief through Rule 23 is seen as historically inaccurate and inconsistent with the understanding of Rules 23, 65, and 71.
• 🧑‍⚖️ Rule 71 explicitly allows nonparties to enforce orders if they receive relief, countering the idea that relief is limited to parties of record.

Rules Committee and Equitable Practices

• 📜 The Rules Committee rejected a proposal in 2017 to prohibit relief to nonparties, finding it conflicted with the Rules Enabling Act.
• 💡 The court does not treat the rules as excluding background equitable practices, and Rule 23 itself does not contemplate preliminary relief, focusing instead on permanent injunctive relief.