Overview
- On March 2, the Court issued a 6–3 emergency order reviving a district judge’s block on policies that bar notifying parents about a student’s asserted gender identity without the student’s consent.
- The majority grounded the order in the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection of parental rights, with a concurrence from Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
- Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito indicated they would have granted fuller relief, while Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
- The underlying challenge targets district and state rules tied to AB 1955 that require staff to use students’ requested names and pronouns while restricting disclosure to parents.
- The Supreme Court’s action follows the Ninth Circuit’s stay of Judge Roger Benitez’s December 2025 statewide injunction, and it cites the Court’s recent Mahmoud v. Taylor precedent as appeals continue.