Biden-appointed judge rules against Maine Rep. Laurel Libby in fight over controversial trans athlete censure
A federal judge ruled against Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby Friday in her lawsuit to have her censure in the state legislature overturned. Libby was censured Feb. 15 for a social media post that identified a transgender athlete who won a girls state pole vault title.
The judge who made the ruling is Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden just before he left office in January.
DuBose denied Libby's motion for a preliminary injunction Friday, ruling the process House Speaker Ryan Fecteau used to impose the sanction reflected the will of the majority of Maine House members.
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DuBose presided over the case after every district judge in Maine refused to take it.
Judges John C. Nivison, John A. Woodcock, Lance E. Walker, Karen F. Wolf, Stacey D. Neumann and Nancy Torresen signed recusal orders shortly after the case was initially filed. No reason was given.
So, the case went to DuBose in Rhode Island.
Libby is "disappointed" by the ruling but plans to appeal it and will take the case to the court of appeals and, potentially, the U.S. Supreme Court.
"I certainly won't leave any stone unturned in getting my constituents their voice and vote back," Libby told Fox News Digital.
Libby represents 9,000 constituents in Maine's 90th district and has not been able to speak or vote on their behalf in the state legislature for 62 days.
That cost her a chance to vote on the state's biannual budget and propose a bill to expand access to mental health resources for residents.
With her censure remaining in place, it will prevent Libby from voting on or speaking on the House floor about a bill that would add trans inclusion in girls sports to the state constitution.
Her colleagues will be voting on the Democratic majority's bill after it passed with a slim simple majority in the House Thursday but will need a two-thirds majority in both chambers before it can go before voters. If passed, it would codify in the state's constitution the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA), which protects the rights of transgender athletes to compete for sports teams of the opposite sex.
"I will not be able to vote on that," Libby said.
Libby's social media post that prompted the censure thrust the entire state into an active legal battle with President Donald Trump's administration over the issue of trans athletes in girls sports.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state for its ongoing defiance of Trump's "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order. Maine has faced federal pressure in the last two months over its refusal to comply, including two federal investigations, a funding freeze by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and now a lawsuit.
The Democratic leadership in the state, led by Gov. Janet Mills, has fought back, filing their own lawsuit against Trump over the funding freeze. Another federal judge has already ruled the USDA must unfreeze the funding.
"I’m happy to go to court and litigate the issues that are being raised in this court complaint," Mills told reporters Thursday.
A survey by the American Parents Coalition found that out of about 600 registered Maine voters, 63% said school sports participation should be based on biological sex, and 66% agreed it is "only fair to restrict women’s sports to biological women."
The poll also found that 60% of residents would support a ballot measure limiting participation in women’s and girls sports to biological females. This included 64% of independents and 66% of parents with kids under age 18.
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