Tennessee Attorney General Skrmetti Says 6th Circuit Ruling ‘A Big Win,’ Meaning State Law Protecting Minors from Transgender Mutilation and Hormone Treatment ‘Can Be Fully Enforced’

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti released a statement Saturday morning, hours after the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling granting the state of Tennessee’s emergency motion for a stay of a June 28 preliminary injunction from a federal district judge that temporarily prohibited the full implementation of a law enacted in March 2023. The law, Prohibition on Medical Procedures Performed on Minors Related to Sexual Identity, was originally scheduled to go into effect on July 1. “The case is far from over, but this is a big win. The court of appeals lifted the injunction, meaning the law can be fully enforced, and recognized that Tennessee is likely to win the constitutional argument and the case,” Skrmetti said in a statement released by his office. The law now goes into full effect on July 8, one week after its originally scheduled July 1 effective date. “Tennessee enacted a law that prohibits healthcare providers from performing gender-affirming surgeries and administering hormones or puberty blockers to transgender minors. After determining that the law likely violated the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses, the district court facially enjoined the law’s enforcement as to hormones and puberty blockers and applied the injunction to…

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Appeals Court Hands Air Force Class Action Plaintiffs a Win in Vaccine Mandate Lawsuit

A panel of three Sixth Circuit judges have denied the Air Force’s attempt to overturn class certification granted to all members of the Air Force by a federal district court judge in July. In doing so, they handed another win to roughly 10,000 airmen and women fighting against the Department of Defense’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The appeals court judges denied an emergency motion made by the Air Force requesting it stay the class certification and injunction granted in Hunter Doster, et al. v. Hon Frank Kendall, et al., by U.S. District Judge Matthew W. McFarland of the Southern District of Ohio. In July, McFarland granted class status and issued a preliminary injunction preventing retaliation against those in the Air Force who don’t comply with the mandate as the lawsuit continues. His order remains in effect.

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Sixth Circuit Rules CDC Eviction Moratorium Is Unconstitutional

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the national eviction moratorium mandated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is unconstitutional. The court said in its ruling that the matter ultimately needed to be resolved by Congress.

The three-judge panel ruled that the CDC engaged in federal overreach by mandating that tenants who are unable to pay their rent and are in breach of their rental agreements may not be evicted. The CDC had implemented a moratorium in response to millions of people losing their jobs due to governors shutting down their state economies to slow the spread of COVID-19.

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Court Reverses Dismissal of Ohio Lawsuit Against U.S. Census Bureau

U.S. Census 2020

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati has reversed a trial court decision and will allow Ohio’s lawsuit against the U.S. Census Bureau to move forward.

Attorney General Dave Yost sued in February for the bureau to release information to allow the state to meet constitutional deadlines to redraw congressional and state district lines. A district court dismissed the suit in March.

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Federal Judge Orders State to Pay $690K in Attorney’s Fees for Successful First Amendment Challenge of Tennessee’s Billboard Act

The state has been ordered by a federal judge to pay $690,084 in attorneys’ fees and costs resulting from a successful First Amendment challenge to Tennessee’s unconstitutional Billboard Act.

Just over a year ago, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an opinion in Thomas v. Bright (previously Thomas v. Schroer for the two most recent Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT commissioners) a case that goes back more than a dozen years.  The Sixth Circuit court affirmed that Tennessee’s Billboard Regulation and Control Act of 1972 was unconstitutional based on its content-based regulation of free speech, The Tennessee Star reported.

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