U.S. Supreme Court won’t stop states from blocking Title IX changes
Republished from Kentucky Lantern
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected efforts by the Biden administration to temporarily put on hold a federal court’s decision that blocks a central part of new Title IX rules for schools from going into effect.
The order by the justices allows a decision made by Chief Judge Danny Reeves of the U.S. District Court in Eastern Kentucky to block the rules to remain in place for now. Reeves had sided with Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman and five other Republican attorneys general in a lawsuit challenging the new Title IX rules, which aim to protect transgender students.
A federal appeals court last month also declined to put on hold Reeves’ decision, and that court is hearing an appeal of Reeves’ decision in October.
“The Court expects that the Courts of Appeals will render their decisions with appropriate dispatch,” the majority of justices wrote.
The order also agreed to leave in place another federal court decision blocking the new Title IX rules brought separately by the Louisiana attorney general and three other Republican attorneys general.
Coleman in a statement on the order said the Republican attorneys general were defending “equal opportunities for Kentucky’s women and young girls” at the country’s highest court.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is threatening to rip away 50 years of Title IX protections. Together with our colleagues in Tennessee and four other states, we are fighting to uphold the promise of Title IX for generations to come,” Coleman said.
Title IX deals with sex-based discrimination at any school that receives federal funding.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miquel Cardona previously said in a statement the new Title IX rules would have built “on the legacy of Title IX by clarifying that all our nation’s students can access schools that are safe, welcoming, and respect their rights.”
The rules, which would have went into effect Aug. 1, sought to roll back Trump administration changes that narrowly defined sexual harassment and directed schools to conduct live hearings, allowing those who were accused of sexual harassment or assault to cross-examine their accusers.
Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia joined Kentucky challenging the administration’s order.
Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lantern on Facebook and Twitter. Kentucky Lantern stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Donate to Kentucky Lantern here.
