Joe Biden’s team took another hit with its legal wranglings designed to undermine state laws. This is an odd case where the Department of Justice (DOJ) tried to pause its own lawsuit against the state of Alabama.
The DOJ sued in April to halt its lawsuit trying to stop Alabama’s ban on transgender medical procedures for minors. The ban wasn’t even a month old, and the DOJ jumped on the chance to attack the law’s approval by the state.
Similar cases in different states are working their way through the courts. The DOJ asked the Alabama judge to halt the case to await decisions in the other cases. The judge had other plans.
From the Daily Caller:
Judge Liles Burke of the Northern District of Alabama, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2017, ordered that for the time being the case should move forward, while noting that if the Kentucky and Tennessee appellate courts approve petitions to hear those cases then the issue can be revisited, according to CBS News.
The DOJ asked the court to pause the lawsuit to await decisions in Kentucky and Tennessee cases since “this exceptional legal landscape is quickly evolving.” The judge’s answer to keep the case moving forward means the Alabama case is set for trial in April 2024.
Alabama joined 20 other states with similar legislation when it passed the ban earlier this year. The law makes “practices to alter or affirm minor’s sexual identity or perception such as prescribing puberty-blocking medication or surgeries” a class C felony and punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is leading the liberal charge to stop these types of laws with lawsuits filed earlier this year. The ACLU filed lawsuits in Tennessee and Kentucky to stop laws there.
The ACLU argued that the Tennessee law prohibited “medically necessary treatment” and attacked parents’ “fundamental rights to obtain medically necessary care for their adolescent children.” It argued in the Kentucky case that the state’s ban “will cause severe and irreparable harm.”
Key Takeaways:
- A federal judge ruled against the DOJ in its lawsuit against Alabama.
- The DOJ asked to halt its lawsuit against a ban on transgender medical procedures for minors.
- The judge said the case should move forward and set the trial date in just a few months.
Source: Daily Caller