Mirabelli v. Bonta
607 U. S. 492 (2026) · 3/02/26
The application filed by parents and teachers to vacate the Ninth Circuit’s stay of the District Court’s injunction pending appeal is granted as to the parents under the four-factor test in Alabama Assn. of Realtors v. Department of Health and Human Servs., 594 U. S. 758, 763 (2021) (per curiam).
Edition: preliminary print (page proof)
Voices: Syllabus — prepared by the Reporter of Decisions · Per Curiam. · Justice Barrett, with whom The Chief Justice and Justice Kavanaugh join, concurring. · Justice Kagan, with whom Justice Jackson joins, dissenting.
Invoking the Free Exercise Clause and Due Process Clause, parents of California public schoolchildren and teachers in the California public school system brought this challenge to a set of statewide student gender policies. Under these policies, school employees must refer to students by their preferred name and pronouns, and school employees must obtain the child's consent before disclosing the child's gender identity to his or her parents. The District Court permanently enjoined enforcement of these policies. The Ninth Circuit stayed the injunction pending appeal.
Held: As to the parents, the application to vacate the Ninth Circuit's stay is granted because the stay is not justified under the governing four- factor test. See Alabama Assn. of Realtors v. Department of Health and Human Servs., 594 U. S. 758 (per curiam). The parents are likely to succeed on the merits of their free exercise claim. California's policies likely trigger strict scrutiny because they substantially interfere with the “right of parents to guide the religious development of their children.” Mahmoud v. Taylor, 606 U. S. 522, 559. The policies likely fail strict scrutiny because…Read it in the reading room ›