Federal judge in Alabama lets Title IX rule protecting LGBTQ kids go forward in four states

[ad_1]

A federal judge has struck down an attempt by Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina to halt enforcement of the Biden administration’s final rule for Title IX. (Getty Images)

A federal judge has struck down an attempt by Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina to halt enforcement of the Biden administration’s final rule for Title IX, shortly before the final rule takes effect nationwide on Thursday.

The administration’s updated regulations — which seek to extend federal discrimination protections for LGBTQ students — have been met with a wave of GOP pushback since being announced by the Department of Education in April.

Though the final rule is slated to go into effect on Thursday, it’s now blocked in 22 states and has faced mounting legal uncertainty.

“In short, although Plaintiffs may dislike the Department’s rules, they have failed to show a substantial likelihood of success in proving the Department’s rulemaking was unreasonable or not reasonably explained,” Judge Annemarie Carney Axon of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama wrote Tuesday in a 122-page opinion.

Axon, who was appointed by then-President Donald Trump, also wrote that “the evidentiary record is sparse, and the legal arguments are conclusory and underdeveloped.”

In late April, the group of Southern states, all with GOP attorneys general, sued the administration in federal court in Alabama over the regulations. Multiple organizations also tacked onto the lawsuit, including the Independent Women’s Law Center, the Independent Women’s Network, Parents Defending Education and Speech First.

They quickly appealed Tuesday’s ruling later in the day to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

In a statement on Tuesday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said “we are surprised by district court’s decision today to deny the State’s request to immediately halt Biden’s Title IX degradation.”

He added that “Alabama’s young women deserve better.”

Since the department released the final rule, 26 states in total have signed onto lawsuits seeking to block the updated regulations from taking effect.

Across multiple temporary injunctions, the final rule is blocked in Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

On Wednesday, Judge Jodi W. Dishman of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma halted the final rule from taking effect in the state. Oklahoma individually sued the administration back in May.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond praised the ruling, saying: “Our students deserve the protections that have long been provided by Title IX,” per a statement Wednesday.

To further complicate the matter, when Judge John Broomes of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas temporarily blocked the measure in the Sunflower State, Alaska, Utah and Wyoming earlier in July, he extended it to also include “the schools attended by the members of Young America’s Foundation or Female Athletes United, as well as the schools attended by the children of the members of Moms for Liberty,” all groups that sued alongside those four states.

This means the final rule is blocked in schools across the country, including in states that never challenged the updated regulations. Despite Axon’s Tuesday ruling, the final rule will still be halted in any K-12 school or college in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina that is impacted by the earlier Kansas decision.

The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Janelle Stecklein contributed to this report.

[ad_1]

Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66b5f9d575b24f97bc2d3eee953ad768&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.yahoo.com%2Fnews%2Ffederal-judge-alabama-lets-title-171847117.html&c=4480058115413689324&mkt=en-us Author : Publish date : 2024-07-31 06:18:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source .

Federal judge in Alabama lets Title IX rule protecting LGBTQ kids go forward in four states

Why Dale Earnhardt Jr. Longs for a Visit to Alaska

Anant Ambani And Radhika Merchant Perform ‘Aarti’ In A Temple In Panama, Step Out For Frozen Yogurt

Anant Ambani And Radhika Merchant Perform 'Aarti' In A Temple In Panama, Step Out For Frozen Yogurt

Discovering the Untold Story: The 50-Year Quest for the U.S. Purchase of the Virgin Islands

Lawmakers Demand War Powers Vote as Tensions Rise Over Trump’s Venezuela Threat

Alabama’s Automakers Prepare for Trump’s Tariffs: A Bold New Strategy Unfolds!

Heartbreaking Tragedy Exposes Critical Failures in America’s Pedestrian Safety

Uncover the Caribbean’s Best-Kept Secret: The Island Everyone is Talking About for Its Safety!

Antigua and Barbuda Poised to Shine as the Caribbean’s Second Fastest Growing Economy!

Exciting News: Aruba Reopens Its Borders to Latin America on December 1!

Urgent Warning: US Tariffs Could Jeopardize Bahamas’ Trade and Tourism!

Barbados Welcomes a Tourism Boom as the US Overtakes the UK in Visitor Numbers for 2025!

Peak Re Launches Thrilling New Venture in North America!

Categories

Archives