Overview
- In a 6–3 emergency ruling, the Court let a district court’s injunction take effect for parent plaintiffs, pausing California’s limits on disclosing a student’s asserted gender identity while the appeal proceeds in the Ninth Circuit.
- The opinion said parents are likely to prevail on Free Exercise and due process grounds and indicated the policies likely trigger strict scrutiny for substantially burdening parents’ role in guiding their children’s upbringing.
- Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and partly by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissented, criticizing the use of the shadow docket for a consequential dispute still developing in lower courts.
- California districts and educators face temporary legal uncertainty as the order interacts with the 2024 SAFETY Act, with schools reassessing disclosure practices and awaiting further guidance and the ongoing appellate review.
- The Court did not extend injunctive relief to teacher plaintiffs, and reactions split sharply as the Thomas More Society and allied groups hailed a parental-rights win while LGBTQ+ advocates and state officials warned of risks to student safety and privacy.