Supreme Court blocks Biden administration rules against sex discrimination in schools

Supreme Court blocks Biden administration rules against sex discrimination in schools
The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Friday to partially limit two lower-court orders that blocked the Biden administration’s new rules barring sex discrimination in schools that get federal aid.



https://www.npr.org/2024/08/16/nx-s1-5064627/supreme-court-schools

August 16, 20247:23 PM ET By Nina Totenberg



The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Friday to partially limit two lower-court orders that blocked the Biden administration’s new rules barring sex discrimination in schools that get federal aid.

The court’s action effectively bars the federal government from enforcing any portion of its new anti-discrimination rules while legal challenges involving protections for transgender students are litigated in the lower courts. Justices Neil Gorsuch joined the court's three liberals to note their disagreement, and would have allowed the unchallenged provisions of the rules package to go into effect, as scheduled, Aug. 1.

The legal dispute involves Department of Education rule changes that are aimed at bolstering protections for students and employees under the federal law banning sex-based discrimination in any school or other education program that receives federal funding. While the rule changes include many uncontroversial provisions, two federal judges, one in Louisiana, the other in Kentucky, issued broad decisions that blocked the entire rules package from taking effect in ten states, largely because of three provisions aimed at protecting transgender students......................


But in the meantime, Prelogar said, the Department of Education should not be barred “from implementing dozens of provisions” that are not being challenged, including on how schools should handle sexual harassment allegations and how schools should protect pregnant students and employees.

The Supreme court, however, refused to intervene, leaving the full scope of the lower courts’ injunctions in place, and the new rules unenforceable in ten states covered by the lower court orders. Justices Gorsuch, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson noted their dissent; they would have allowed the uncontested provisions to take effect immediately.