XPost: alt.sodomites.barack-obama, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns XPost: sac.politics
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on May 20 sided with a lawmaker from
Maine who was barred from voting until she apologized for a
controversial Facebook post about a transgender athlete.
Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby in February made a post criticizing the
fact that a transgender high school athlete was allowed to compete in –
and win - a pole vaulting competition.
Libby's posts on Facebook and X went viral, putting Maine’s policy in
the spotlight and, according to a majority of her colleagues,
endangering the athlete.
They barred her from voting until she apologizes.
The Supreme Court said she can vote while she challenges her punishment
as unconstitutional. Libby argues that her First Amendment right to free
speech is being violated and her constituents are being disenfranchised.
Two of the court's three liberal justices - Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji
Brown Jackson - dissented.
Jackson said the court has watered down its standard for granting
emergency relief, which she called an "unfortunate development."
The majority, she wrote, has opted to “dole out error correction as it
sees fit, regardless of the lack of any exigency, and even when the
applicants’ claims raise significant legal issues that warrant thorough evaluation by the lower courts that are dutifully considering them.”
The majority gave no explanation for its decision, as is common in
responses to emergency requests.
Their decision is the latest chapter in a dispute that drew the
attention of the Trump administration, which has sued Maine for refusing
to ban transgender athletes from participating in women's and girls'
sports.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/20/supreme-court-tra nsgender-athlete-facebook-post-case/83581119007/
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