Overview

• The 6-3 order on the Court’s emergency docket paused Judge Maame Frimpong’s injunction, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurring that apparent ethnicity cannot alone justify a stop but may be a relevant factor.
• Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, warning the decision permits seizures based on appearance, language, or low-wage work and undermines Fourth Amendment protections.
• Frimpong’s July 11 order had barred stops based on race, language, location, or type of work across much of Southern California, and the Ninth Circuit had refused to lift it before the Supreme Court intervened.
• The Justice Department argued officers may rely on a totality-of-circumstances standard and a reasonably broad profile to conduct brief detentions and inquiries about immigration status.
• Civil-rights groups pursuing a proposed class action allege roving patrols have swept up citizens and noncitizens, while a separate ruling found the use of Guard and Marines in Los Angeles unlawful under the Posse Comitatus Act.