All that happened Thursday is that the Supreme Court refused to reverse the Fourth Circuit’s injunction. The justices did not express a view on the merits of the case….

Nevertheless, as Justice Alito all but conceded, we can infer why the Fourth Circuit decided it didn’t need to explain. Because West Virginia did not complain for the entire year-and-a-half-long duration of the district court’s injunction, the state cannot credibly contend that it has suddenly become urgent that the law be enforced against the student in question. Though Alito faults the Court’s 7–2 majority for also failing to justify its refusal to disturb the injunction, the explanation is obvious: If something is really an emergency, the litigant has to act like it’s an emergency.