An appellate court often falls out of step with the Supreme Court and scores a victory

The appeals court that allowed an aggressive Texas immigration law to take effect with a one-sentence order without any reasoning has a reputation for making decisions that are too conservative, even for the Supreme Court, which itself has been tilted to the right by a court of six. majority of Republican candidates.

But the Supreme Court has let that order, which overruled a judge’s decision to block the law, stand for now, indicating it won’t hear the case until the appeals court issues something more formal than a “temporary administrative stay ”. The fate of the law, known as SB 4, remains uncertain as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans often falls out of step with the justices.

In dissent, Judge Sonia Sotomayor addressed the appeals court on Tuesday. “The Fifth Circuit abused its discretion,” she wrote, “and this court makes the same mistake by granting a temporary administrative stay to change the status quo that has existed for more than a century.”

She added: “The Fifth Circuit should have considered the constitutionality and irreparable harm caused by SB 4 before enacting the law. Instead, it opened the door to profound disruption. This court is making the same mistake.”

Of the seventeen active appeals court judges, only five were appointed by Democratic presidents. Six members of the court were appointed by Donald J. Trump when he was president.

The court hears appeals from federal courts in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. These forums often elicit ambitious lawsuits from conservative litigants who rightly anticipate a favorable reception, and rulings by judges in those states are often affirmed by the Fifth Circuit.

But when those cases reach the Supreme Court, they sometimes fizzle out. An attack on the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, endorsed by three Trump appointees in the Fifth Circuit, did not appear to go down well with the justices when it was debated in October. Another, in which the Fifth Circuit struck down a federal law banning domestic abusers from carrying guns, was also met with skepticism.

Other Fifth Circuit rulings, on issues such as immigration, abortion pills and so-called ghost guns, also met with at least cautious disapproval from the Supreme Court.