In a significant Supreme Court ruling, Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s majority opinion heavily cited the work of University of Chicago law professor Samuel Bray. Professor Bray’s scholarship on the topic of universal injunctions was notably referenced, lending substantial support to Barrett’s argument that such injunctions overstep the authority granted to federal district court judges. His pivotal 2017 article in the Harvard Law Review, titled “Multiple Chancellors: Reforming the National Injunction,” characterized universal injunctions as a relatively recent legal development without a traditional basis in law.
In a discussion with the National Law Journal, Bray expressed his alignment with the challengers in Trump v. CASA, advocating against birthright citizenship restrictions, yet he criticized universal injunctions as unsound policy. Looking forward, Bray anticipates a robust debate at both lower courts and the Supreme Court regarding the implications for class action practice following any potential restriction of universal injunctions.