As of April 1, 2024 SB 4 is NOT in effect. We will update this timeline as future decisions and rulings are made.
April 3, 2024: The Fifth Circuit hears merits arguments in Louisiana regarding SB4. Listen to the arguments here.
March 27, 2024: The Fifth Circuit votes 2-1 to deny Texas’s request to enforce SB4 while it is being litigated. SB 4 remains not in effect. Read the decision here.
March 20, 2024: The Fifth Circuit hears arguments regarding the administrative stay placed on SB4. A recording of that hearing can be found here.
March 19, 2024 9:58 PM CST: The Fifth Circuit calls for a panel hearing on March 20, 2024, and issues a 2-1 ruling that dissolved the administrative stay, which puts the injunction back in place. After eight hours, SB 4 is no longer in effect.
March 19, 2024 1:10 PM CST: The Supreme Court allows Texas to enforce SB 4 in a 6-3 ruling that would allow the law to go into effect while litigation continues in the lower courts. Link to SCOTUS’s ruling. SB 4 is in effect.
March 18, 2024 4:07 PM CST: SB 4 is in effect for ~7 minutes before the Supreme Courts issues an indefinite extension, thereby blocking SB4 from being in effect.
March 18, 2024 4:00 PM CST: The administrative stay issued by Justice Alito expires and SB4 is in effect.
March 12, 2024: The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) filed another lawsuit against SB 4 on behalf of La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), its members, and four individual Texas residents.
March 12, 2024: Justice Alito extends the administrative stay preventing SB4 from going into effect. The extension is until March 18, 2024.
March 4, 2024: The Supreme Court extends its own stay until March 12 at 5PM regarding if SB4 can be implemented.
March 4, 2024: The Biden Administration asks the Supreme Court to take emergency action to restore the injunction against SB4.
February 29, 2024: 12:50 PM: Attorney General Ken Paxton files an appeal regarding Judge Ezra’s decision. Read the filings here.
February 29, 2024 10:00 AM: Judge David Ezra issues his ruling that blocked Texas from implementing and enforcing SB4. Read his decision here.
February 15, 2024: The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas heard arguments regarding the preliminary injunction to block SB 4 from going into effect. To read a summary of the hearings and arguments read our blog post.
January 3, 2024: The Department of Justice Files a lawsuit against SB4.
December 19, 2023: The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, and the Texas Civil Rights Project filed a lawsuit challenging SB 4.
December 18, 2023: Governor Abbott signs SB 4, causing it to go into effect March 5, 2024.
