Students v. Paxton

── Students v. Paxton ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Date: June 04, 2026 Category: Private Civil Federal Case: 25-51073 Document: 91-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 06/04/2026 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ____________ United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit No. 25-51073 ____________ FILED June 4, 2026 Students Engaged in Advancing Texas; Lyle W. Cayce M. F., by and through next friend Vanessa Fernandez; Clerk Z. B., by and through next friend S.B., Plaintiffs—Appellees, versus Ken Paxton, in his official capacity as the Texas Attorney General, Defendant—Appellant, consolidated with ____________ No. 26-50001 _____________ Computer & Communications Industry Association, Plaintiff—Appellee, versus Ken Paxton, in his official capacity as Attorney General of Texas, Defendant—Appellant. 1  Case: 25-51073 Document: 91-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 06/04/2026 No. 25-51073 c/w No. 26-50001 ______________________________ Appeals from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas USDC No. 1:25-CV-1662 USDC No. 1:25-CV-1660 ______________________________ PUBLISHED ORDER Before Smith, Haynes, and Oldham, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam: * The Texas Legislature enacted Senate Bill 2420 1 (“SB2420”), the App Store Accountability Act, with bipartisan support to help parents direct and supervise children’s downloads of apps and in-app purchases. The Act accomplishes those goals by requiring age verification; parental consent; and age rating and content display. The district court issued universal preliminary injunctions against SB2420 after applying strict scrutiny. The State of Texas seeks a stay pend- ing appeal. We grant the opposed motion because Texas has met its burden under Nken v. Holder. 2 Texas has made a strong showing that it is likely to succeed on the _____________________ * Judge Haynes concurs in the sentence of the order granting the stay pending appeal. 1 89th Leg., R.S., ch. 200, Tex. Gen. Laws 385–90, codified at Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 121. Unless indicated otherwise, all statutory citations are to the Texas Business & Commerce Code. Chapter 121 citations are to SB2420. 2 556 U.S. 418, 434 (2009) (“[T]hose legal principles have been distilled into consideration of four factors: ‘(1) whether the stay applicant has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits; (2) whether the applicant will be irreparably injured absent a stay; (3) whether issuance of the stay will substantially injure the other parties interested in the proceeding; and (4) where the public interest lies.’”) (citation omitted). 2  Case: 25-51073 Document: 91-1 Page: 3 Date Filed: 06/04/2026 No. 25-51073 c/w No. 26-50001 merits of it