Cardona v. State of Tennessee
Description: The Biden administration’s unlawful attempt to rewrite Title IX threatens teachers and students’ privacy, safety, fairness, and free speech.
US Supreme Court upholds injunction against Biden-Harris admin's unlawful attempt to rewrite Title IX
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday denied the Biden-Harris administration’s request to partially reinstate its illegal attempt to change the meaning of the word “sex” to include “gender identity” in Title IX, a federal law designed to create equal opportunities for women in education and athletics. The high court’s denial comes in two different legal challenges to the administration’s Title IX rule changes, Cardona v. State of Tennessee and U.S. Department of Education v. State of Louisiana.
The Supreme Court’s decision upholds two recent federal appeals court rulings that halted the administration’s unlawful rules in the states of Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Virginia; and Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Idaho. In one case, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent a West Virginia high-school female athlete and Christian Educators Association International; in the other, they represent a Louisiana school board serving more than 20,000 students.
“The Biden-Harris administration’s radical redefinition of sex turns back the clock on equal opportunity for women, undermines fairness, and threatens student safety and privacy,” said ADF Vice President of Litigation Strategy and Center for Conscience Initiatives Jonathan Scruggs. “The Supreme Court rightly affirmed the 5th and 6th Circuit decisions to restrain the administration’s illegal efforts to rewrite Title IX while these critical lawsuits continue. This administration is ignoring biological reality, science, and common sense. Female athletes, students, and teachers across the country are right to stand against the administration’s adoption of extreme gender ideology, which would have devastating consequences for students, teachers, administrators, and families.”
On April 19, the Biden-Harris administration announced it would redefine “sex” in Title IX rules to include “gender identity,” requiring schools to ignore the biological distinction between male and female in favor of “an individual’s sense of their gender.” The Department of Education’s fundamental and radical rewriting of federal law would force schools across the country to embrace a controversial gender ideology that harms children—including the very children it claims to help. Schools will be required to allow males who identify as female to enter girls’ private spaces like restrooms, locker rooms, and showers; to participate in girls’ physical education classes; and—despite logically inconsistent disclaimers saying otherwise—to play on girls’ sports teams.
ADF attorneys have obtained injunctions in three other lawsuits challenging the administration’s unlawful rule:
- State of Kansas v. U.S. Department of Education.
- Carroll Independent School District v. United States Department of Education
- State of Arkansas v. U.S. Department of Education
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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ABOUT Jonathan Scruggs
Jonathan Scruggs serves as senior counsel and vice president of litigation strategy and the Center for Conscience Initiatives with Alliance Defending Freedom. In this role, he identifies new litigation opportunities and develops new strategies for protecting free speech and religious liberty in collaboration with the chief legal counsel and litigation team directors. As the leader for the Center for Conscience Initiatives, Scruggs oversees the litigation team defending the rights of professionals and business owners to live out their faith as well as the litigation efforts to protect equal opportunities for women in athletics. Since joining ADF in 2006, Scruggs has worked on and prevailed in a variety of cases that protect the right of people to freely express their faith in their business, at school, and in the public square. He earned his J.D. at Harvard Law School and is admitted to practice in the states of Arizona and Tennessee. Scruggs is also admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court and multiple federal district and appellate courts.
ABOUT Rachel Rouleau
Rachel Rouleau serves as legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, where she is a member of the Center for Conscience Initiatives. Rouleau joined the Conscience Team in 2020, where she focuses on protecting the conscience rights of individuals being unjustly forced to compromise their beliefs under threat of heavy fines and punishment. Prior to that, she was a First Year Lawyer Fellow in ADF’s new fellowship program. Rouleau earned her J.D. from William and Mary Law School in 2019. She obtained her B.A. in political science from the University of Florida in 2015. She is a member of the Massachusetts bar.