Department of Education v. Louisiana

Background

The Department of Education issued a new Title IX rule that defines sex discrimination to include sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Several States and other parties sued and asked two federal district courts to block the rule while the case proceeds. The district courts halted enforcement of the entire rule in the States that sued, and the Courts of Appeals declined to lift those blocks.

Reasoning

The Government asked the Supreme Court to partially lift the injunctions in order to let most of the rule take effect while appeals proceed. The Court denied those emergency requests. All Justices agreed that plaintiffs were entitled to temporary relief against three provisions—the new definition of sex discrimination, the rule on access to sex-separated spaces consistent with gender identity, and the rule’s definition of hostile-environment harassment—but the Government did not show those unlawful provisions can be easily separated from the rest of the rule. The lower courts had found the disputed parts are intertwined with other provisions, and the Supreme Court found the Government did not meet its burden to upset those interim findings.

Real world impact

Because the Supreme Court denied the Government’s partial stays, the injunctions blocking enforcement remain in place for now in the States that sued. The Courts of Appeals will consider the appeals on an expedited schedule. The decision preserves current limits on the Department’s rule during the appeals, so schools and students in the affected States must follow the prior rules until further rulings.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Sotomayor (joined by three Justices) would have narrowed the injunctions to block only the three challenged provisions, criticizing the broader district-court orders as more burdensome than necessary.