The US Supreme Court Will Not Debate a Case That Could, at Worst, Force a Reversal of Administration Policies
Monday morning’s big news is the U.S. Supreme Court’s unique ruling in a contraception case the religious right has been touting for years, but of huge import as well to the LGBT community and progressives is the case SCOTUS today just refused.
The Supreme Court refused to hear a case that could, if the religious right won, have overturned a SCOTUS ruling that, simply put, states that the Judiciary must defer to how a federal agency interprets its own regulations.Â
The refused case, United Student Aid Funds v. Bryana Bible, uses another Supreme Court ruling Auer v. Robbins, and conservatives have been aching to overturn that ruling.
Last month the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that transgender teen Gavin Grimm had the right to sue his school district for refusing to allow him equal access to the boys’ restrooms, emboldening the U.S. Dept. of Education’s position that discrimination against transgender students is sex discrimination.
The 4th Circuit ruling in part relied on Auer v. Robbins to reach its decision.
Politico’s Josh Gerstein first reported today’s decision by SCOTUS to not hear the case. He notes, “Justice Clarence Thomas said in his dissent that the court should have taken the case and considered overturning Auer, as well as a related 1945 precedent.”
“Any reader of this Court’s opinions should think that the doctrine is on its last gasp. Members of this Court have repeatedly called for its reconsideration in an appropriate case,” Thomas wrote. He noted that Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito and late Justice Antonin Scalia all called in various cases for the doctrine to be reconsidered.
This is a big win for the LGBT community and equality advocates, all who support separation of church and state, and progressives – at least until a Republican occupies the Oval Office.
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Image by Envios via Flickr and a CC licenseÂ