BREAKING: Justice Sotomayor Rules for Yeshiva’s Religious Liberty (for Now)

I previously wrote about a New York trial judge’s order — left in place by the state’s appeals courts — forcing Yeshiva University to recognize a gay undergraduate group, YU Pride Alliance, in violation of its own religious principles. With the school year starting, time was of the essence: If the U.S. Supreme Court did not step in to halt the injunction, the college would be forced to compromise its faith before the Court could even decide whether to hear the case. Because Yeshiva’s request for an emergency stay was appealed within the Second Circuit (covering New York), it went to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who had the choice to either rule on the emergency application or refer it to the full Court for consideration. This afternoon, she handed down an order granting the stay. The order appears to be issued on her own authority and does not grant permanent relief or grant certiorari to hear Yeshiva’s appeal. As a result, it is not entirely clear what happened, but it would seem for now that Sotomayor — who would ordinarily have been the likeliest dissenter in such a case — recognized the need for an order to preserve the status quo (the sort of order that is sometimes assailed as a “shadow docket,” although it would be improper for the Court to just reject all applications for emergency relief simply because it lacks the time to hold full briefing and argument).

Stay tuned to see, perhaps as early as next week, the next steps in the case. But it is hard for progressive Court-bashers to pretend that this is some sort of procedural abuse when it is signed by the furthest-left member of the Court.