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Rh protection from the allegedly imminent harm.

Petitioners’ request for a declaratory judgment suffers from the same flaw. See Skelly Oil Co. v. Phillips Petroleum Co., 339 U. S. 667, 671–672 (1950). This form of relief conclusively resolves “ ‘the legal rights of the parties.’ ” Medtronic, Inc. v. Mirowski Family Ventures, LLC, 571 U. S. 191, 200 (2014) (emphasis added). But again, state officials are nonparties who would not be bound by the judgment. Taylor v. Sturgell, 553 U. S. 880, 892–893 (2008). Thus, the equal protection issue would not be settled between petitioners and the officials who matter—which would leave the declaratory judgment powerless to remedy the alleged harm. 994 F. 3d, at 448 (Costa, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (“What saves proper declaratory judgments from a redressability problem—but is lacking here—is that they have preclusive effect on a traditional lawsuit that is imminent”). After all, the point of a declaratory judgment “is to establish a binding adjudication that enables the parties to enjoy the benefits of reliance and repose secured by res judicata.” 18A C. Wright, A. Miller, & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure §4446 (3d ed. Supp. 2022). Without preclusive effect, a declaratory judgment is little more than an advisory opinion. Ibid.; see ''Public Serv. Comm’n of Utah v. Wycoff Co.'', 344 U. S. 237, 242–243 (1952).

The individual petitioners do not dispute—or even address—any of this. Instead, they insist that state courts are likely to defer to a federal court’s interpretation of federal law, thus giving rise to a substantial likelihood that a favorable judgment will redress their injury. Brief in Opposition for Individual Respondents 19–20; Reply Brief for Individual Petitioners 29. They point out that, in the Brackeens’ ongoing efforts to adopt Y. R. J., the trial court stated that it would follow the federal court’s ruling on the Brackeens’ constitutional claims. Ibid. Thus, they reason, winning this case would solve their problems.