Cite as: 507 U. S. 1301 (1993)
Opinion in Chambers
been granted, either by a single Justice or by the whole Court.
The All Writs Act, 28 U. S. C. § 1651(a), is the only source of this Court's authority to issue an injunction. We have consistently stated, and our own Rules so require, that such power is to be used sparingly. See, e. g., Ohio Citizens For Responsible Energy, supra, at 1313; this Court's Rule 20.1 ("The issuance by the Court of an extraordinary writ authorized by 28 U. S. C. § 1651(a) is not a matter of right, but of discretion sparingly exercised"). "[J]udicial power to stay an act of Congress, like judicial power to hold that act unconstitutional, is an awesome responsibility calling for the utmost circumspection in its exercise. This factor is all the more important where, as here, a single member of the Court is asked to delay the will of Congress to put its policies into effect at the time it desires." Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States, 85 S. Ct. 1, 2, 13 L. Ed. 2d 12, 14 (1964) (Black, J., in chambers).
An injunction is appropriate only if (1) it is "necessary or appropriate in aid of [our] jurisdictio[n]," 28 U. S. C. § 1651(a), and (2) the legal rights at issue are "indisputably clear," Communist Party of Indiana v. Whitcomb, 409 U. S. 1235 (1972) (Rehnquist, J., in chambers); Ohio Citizens For Responsible Energy, supra, at 1313. Without doubt, implementation of §§ 4 and 5 would not prevent this Court's exercise of its appellate jurisdiction to decide the merits of applicants' appeal. Nor is it "indisputably clear" that applicants have a First Amendment right to be free of the must-carry provisions. In Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo, 418 U. S. 241 (1974), we struck down Florida's right of reply statute, holding that the State may not compel "editors or publishers to publish that which reason tells them should not be published." Id., at 256 (internal quotation marks omitted). Under Tornillo, Congress plainly could not impose the must-carry provisions on privately owned newspapers. In Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, 395 U. S. 367
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