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If the Trump Administration changes its position on the case, it could impact the outcome of the case before the Supreme Court because the federal government initiated the challenge.
Written by Adam Liptak
Filing a report
The case about transgender rights being heard by the Supreme Court is titled United States v. Skrmetti, indicating that it is a legal dispute initiated by the government of the United States.
However, there will be a shift in government control next month, and it is highly likely that the Trump administration will reject the Biden administration’s claim that a Tennessee law prohibiting certain medical treatments for transgender minors goes against the Constitution.
Typically, this would imply that there would be no more issues for the judges to rule on since both parties would agree that the law is constitutional.
In 2017, a similar situation occurred when President-elect Donald J. Trump took office. In March of that year, the Supreme Court decided to dismiss a case involving the rights of transgender students after the Trump administration changed its stance. The case was about a transgender boy in Virginia wanting to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school.
However, there is a complication in this situation. Three families and a doctor initially challenged the Tennessee law, with the Biden administration joining in on their side. Both the families and the government submitted separate requests for the Supreme Court to review the case, but the justices only accepted the government’s petition.
Instead of throwing out the case, the court may choose to approve the companion petition at a later time. The court has the option to listen to additional arguments, or they could base their decision on the ones presented on Wednesday. During the hearing, Chase Strangio from the ACLU will be advocating for the families, while Elizabeth B. Prelogar, representing the Biden administration, will also be presenting arguments.
In the past, new administrations typically made few changes to existing positions. For example, the Obama administration did not switch positions on any cases when it took office. However, the first Trump administration was more daring and changed positions in four significant cases during its first full Supreme Court term, including those related to workers’ rights and voting rolls. Despite these changes, the administration succeeded in all four cases.
The Biden administration did not hesitate to change their stance on certain issues, distancing themselves from the Trump administration’s policies five times. However, they were unsuccessful in four of those cases, as reported by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who reports on the Supreme Court and writes a column called Sidebar about legal news. He went to Yale Law School and practiced law for 14 years before starting at The New York Times in 2002. You can find out more about Adam Liptak on his profile page.
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