354
Breyer, J., dissenting
approximately the following: Suppose that a district court, in 1980, had entered an injunction governing present and future prison conditions. Suppose further that in 1996 a party filed a motion under the PLRA asking the court to terminate (or to modify) the 1980 injunction. That district court would have no more than 90 days to decide whether to grant the motion. After those 90 days, the 1980 injunction would terminate automatically—regaining life only if, when, and to the extent that the judge eventually decided to deny the PLRA motion.
The majority interprets the words "shall operate as a stay" to mean, in terms of my example, that the 1980 injunction must become ineffective after the 90th day, no matter what. The Solicitor General, however, believes that the view adopted by the majority interpretation is too rigid and calls into doubt the constitutionality of the provision. He argues that the statute is silent as to whether the district court can modify or suspend the operation of the automatic stay. He would find in that silence sufficient authority for the court to create an exception to the 90-day time limit where circumstances make it necessary to do so. As so read, the statute would neither displace the courts' traditional equitable authority nor raise significant constitutional difficulties. See Califano v. Yamasaki, 442 U. S. 682, 705 (1979) (only "clearest" congressional "command" displaces courts' traditional equity powers); Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. v. Florida Gulf Coast Building & Constr. Trades Council, 485 U. S. 568, 575 (1988) (the Court will construe a statute to avoid constitutional problems "unless such construction is plainly contrary to the intent of Congress").
I agree with the Solicitor General and believe we should adopt that " 'reasonable construction' " of the statute. Ibid. (quoting Hooper v. California, 155 U. S. 648, 657 (1895), stating " 'every reasonable construction must be resorted to, in order to save a statute from unconstitutionality' ").
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