Maine trans athlete controversy: State rep asks SCOTUS to intervene in controversy
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Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby said Monday she will appeal to the Supreme Court for emergency intervention after lawmakers censured her over a social media post about a transgender athlete.
The Republican lawmaker will ask the Supreme Court to correct a U.S. District Court decision, which ruled against Libby in her quest for a preliminary injunction to prevent the sanction.
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State Rep. Laurel Libby speaks with a colleague, Feb. 14, 2023, at the State House in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
“For over 100 days my constituents have had no say in any actions taken by their government, actions that directly impact their lives,” Libby said in a statement on Monday. “Every vote taken on the floor of the legislature is a vote my constituents cannot get back, the good people of our district have been silenced and disenfranchised.
“We are hopeful the Court will act swiftly to halt the Democrats’ ongoing violation of the Constitution and suppression of dissenting voices, even as the broader case continues through the appeals process.”
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State Rep Laurel Libby filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court. (Fox News)
The state’s Democratic majority voted to censure her for writing a social media post that identified a trans athlete who won a girls’ state pole vault competition in February. Libby filed a lawsuit against House Speaker Ryan Fecteau to have it overturned, but Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose ruled against Libby earlier this month.
The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled against Libby.
Libby previously told Fox News Digital she was willing to take her case to the Supreme Court.
“Our appeal asks the court to correct this abuse of power and reaffirm that legislative leadership cannot use procedural maneuvers and sweeping assertions of immunity to sideline dissenting voices and disenfranchise entire communities,” Libby told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“I remain optimistic that the court will recognize what is plainly at stake: the integrity of representative government and the foundational principle that no elected official, no legislative leader, and no partisan majority is above the Constitution. The people of House District 90 deserve full representation, and we intend to see that right restored.”
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 two months.
The U.S. Supreme Court, Nov. 15, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
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DuBose said in her ruling that the sanction “is not of such extraordinary character as to obliterate the formidable shield the courts have provided to legislative acts.”
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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