On Friday, the Supreme Court held that federal courts lack authority to issue universal injunctions. The decision in Trump v. CASA deprives the judiciary of a vital tool in checking the most egregious abuses of executive power. But it also does something more pernicious, creating a blueprint for the Trump administration to win by losing.

A Supreme Court decision demonstrates a new degree of cimperiousness, seeming to co-sign the Trump administration’s contempt for the lower courts.