Good. I believe this was handled on the shadow docket. However, with as much scrutiny and pressure as Thomas has recently been under, I think even he will hide behind the full bench and at least imply he wasn’t prepared to disrupt the rule of law to the extent asked for by Trump. The outcome of this appeal was never really in doubt. But the fact that we even had to wonder if it was demonstrates how shaky the ground is on which the rule of law is currently rested.
Of the three routes this could have gone, this was probably the best result for the rule of law. IMO, the worst route would have been the Court taking up the appeal for consideration. Even if, in the end, they decided not to reverse the stay placed by the 11th Circuit, I think it would have sent a poor message.
The next worst would have been not answering at all, just leaving it hanging there in limbo. Then Trump's team of "lawyers" could have pointed to “waiting to hear what the Supreme Court has to say” any time he wanted to delay and muddle things a little more. (This is honestly where I thought we’d end up.)
But thankfully they quickly and decisively said they weren’t interested in getting involved. Again, good!