Prom
If the Trump Administration changes its stance, it could impact the outcome of the case that is currently before the Supreme Court because the federal government initially brought the challenge.
Written by Adam Liptak
Writing from the capital
The case being heard by the judges on Wednesday is about trans rights and is titled United States v. Skrmetti. This case involves a challenge initiated by the federal government.
However, with the change in government next month, it is likely that the Trump administration will disagree with the Biden administration’s stance that a Tennessee law restricting certain medical treatments for transgender minors goes against the Constitution.
Typically, this would mean that the justices would have no decision to make since both parties would agree that the law is constitutional.
A similar situation occurred in 2017 when President-elect Donald J. Trump first became president. In March of that year, the Supreme Court decided not to rule on a case involving a transgender student’s bathroom rights after the Trump administration changed its stance on the issue. The case involved a transgender boy in Virginia who was seeking to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school.
However, there is a complication in this situation. Three families and a doctor were the original challengers of the Tennessee law, with the Biden administration supporting their case. Both the families and the government submitted requests for the Supreme Court to review the law, but only the government’s petition was accepted by the justices.
Instead of rejecting the case, the court may choose to approve the companion petition at a later time. The court has the option to listen to a new argument or use the one presented on Wednesday by Chase Strangio from the ACLU and Elizabeth B. Prelogar from the U.S. solicitor general, who is representing the Biden administration.
In the past, new administrations typically did not change their positions often. However, the first Trump administration was more daring, changing positions in four significant cases during its first full term in the Supreme Court. This included cases on workers’ rights and voting rolls, and the administration was successful in all four instances.
The Biden administration was not hesitant to change their stance on issues, as they rejected the approaches taken by the Trump administration on five occasions. Out of these five cases, they were unsuccessful in four, as reported by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak reports on the activities of the Supreme Court and authors a column called Sidebar, which focuses on changes in the legal field. After receiving his law degree from Yale, he worked as a lawyer for 14 years before starting at The New York Times in 2002. To learn more about Adam Liptak, click
Prom
Index of the Website
Navigational Information for the