3 ms·

Can you give an example of the kind of prior restraint you're thinking of? What you're describing is an injunction, and in general, courts are loathe to hand t

Can you give an example of the kind of prior restraint you're thinking of? What you're describing is an injunction, and in general, courts are loathe to hand them out (this one notwithstanding). It happens, but the bar is generally extremely high. Even prior to Trump, I wouldn't expect one for this category of executive operation for the same reason that I wouldn't expect one if someone complained that the government was physically transferring PII in an agent's car instead of a Brinks truck.

Eddy_Viscosity2 1y ago
Birthright citizenship was one. An injunction was granted, then stayed by SCOTUS. It was only when a new class action lawsuit was filed that kept it going. Another is the NIH funding, where lower courts agreed and SCOTUS over-turned. https://www.npr.org/2025/08/21/g-s1-84441/supreme-court-nih-grants https://www.npr.org/2025/08/21/g-s1-84441/supreme-court-nih-...
- shadowgovt 1y ago
  Precisely. That's two examples of SCOTUS restraining the lower courts from imposing constraints before harm had happened. That's what I mean regarding the court generally not having the authority to act preemptively.
  - Eddy_Viscosity2 1y ago
    These were actually examples of courts imposing blocks to prevent harm, but the SCOTUS over-riding them, without any legal justification! Consider the same SCOTUS and its block on Biden's student loan relief. A notable example because the president has clear authority to waive or modify the loans. But it was blocked.
  - anigbrowl 1y ago
    You're correct, but this policy is to enshrine a legal doctrine (rather than a statutory requirement) that harm must be allowed to occur - apparently without regard to the predictability or scope of the harm. It's like a trolley problem where one track has a large number of people about to be crushed by the trolley car, while the other track is completely empty - and SCOTUS arguing that the lever can't be pulled to divert the trolley because the accident hasn't happened yet.

Eddy_Viscosity2 1y ago

Birthright citizenship was one. An injunction was granted, then stayed by SCOTUS. It was only when a new class action lawsuit was filed that kept it going. Another is the NIH funding, where lower courts agreed and SCOTUS over-turned. https://www.npr.org/2025/08/21/g-s1-84441/supreme-court-nih-grants https://www.npr.org/2025/08/21/g-s1-84441/supreme-court-nih-...

shadowgovt 1y ago
Precisely. That's two examples of SCOTUS restraining the lower courts from imposing constraints before harm had happened. That's what I mean regarding the court generally not having the authority to act preemptively.
- Eddy_Viscosity2 1y ago
  These were actually examples of courts imposing blocks to prevent harm, but the SCOTUS over-riding them, without any legal justification! Consider the same SCOTUS and its block on Biden's student loan relief. A notable example because the president has clear authority to waive or modify the loans. But it was blocked.
- anigbrowl 1y ago
  You're correct, but this policy is to enshrine a legal doctrine (rather than a statutory requirement) that harm must be allowed to occur - apparently without regard to the predictability or scope of the harm. It's like a trolley problem where one track has a large number of people about to be crushed by the trolley car, while the other track is completely empty - and SCOTUS arguing that the lever can't be pulled to divert the trolley because the accident hasn't happened yet.