Here’s What the Supreme Court Said About Nationwide Injunctions
Recently the Supreme Court issued a ruling that on the surface had to do with immigration policy. But inside of the Supreme Court’s decision was a holding that could potentially have an impact on larger commercial litigation cases.
Asking to Have Laws Enjoined
It often happens that someone wants to challenge something the government wants to do, whether it’s congress, the president or an executive agency of the federal government. These challenges often involve the constitutionality of an action or a proposed action.
As a remedy, if a court agrees that a law or rule or executive order is unconstitutional, courts can issue injunctions, which stop the enforcement or the law or rule that is being challenged.
Federal Districts
But federal courts are broken up into individual circuits — for example, Florida lies in the 11th judicial circuit. There are 13 federal circuits in total.
It used to be, before the recent decision by the Supreme Court, that if you challenged something the government did, or that it was passing or enacting, and you won, the court you were in could issue a nationwide injunction.
Let’s say, for example, that you sought to challenge the Federal Trade Commission’s ban on enforcement of noncompete agreements (something that is, actually, currently being challenged), and you were in Florida. Even though you were in Florida, in the 11th judicial circuit, if you won, the federal court would have the power to issue an injunction nationwide. No state or federal district court enforce the ban.
That meant that any federal circuit court, in any circuit in any state, could stop federal law, or rule, from being effective. Only a challenge to the United States Supreme Court could override the nationwide injunction put into place by the federal court.
No More Nationwide Injunctions
But this recent Supreme Court case changes this, and says that absent special circumstances, federal courts cannot issue nationwide injunctions. Any injunctions issued by a federal court are now only effective in that court’s circuit (the states that the circuit has authority over).
So, let’s say that you, a Florida business, were challenging the ban on noncompete agreements, and you won. The court enjoined its enforcement. That may not prevent the ban from being enforced and in place, in every other federal circuit, because the injunction is now just for the 11th judicial circuit—not nationwide.
More Confusion?
This may put the enforcement of a lot of laws in a very confusing state. Nationwide injunctions were seen as overreaching—why should a federal court in one single circuit have the power to stop a law from being enforced nationally? But on the other hand, they were also uniform.
Now, there is no uniformity—a law may be enjoined or seen as unconstitutional by a court in a single federal circuit but not in the others. You could end up with a patchwork of laws, where some federal circuits don’t enforce laws or rules they see as unconstitutional, while other states in other federal circuits, still do enforce those laws.
Need help navigating the court system? Let the West Palm Beach business litigation attorneys at Pike & Lustig help you.
Sources:
democracydocket.com/analysis/supreme-court-nationwide-injunctions-trump-cases/
politico.com/news/2025/07/03/supreme-court-nationwide-injunctions-rulings-00439335
scotusblog.com/cases/case-files/trump-v-casa-inc/
