transgender – Overlawyered

Discrimination law roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 06 Mar 2020 11:02:43 +0000

More boxes get banned: Connecticut measure will ban asking age on job applications [Daniel Schwartz]
In closely divided en banc ruling, Ninth Circuit rules it cruel and unusual punishment for prison authorities to deny inmate sex-reassignment surgery [en banc opinion and panel decision; Josh Blackman on a dissent authored by Judge Patrick Bumatay; I was quoted last year in public radio coverage of the Adree Edmo case]
“Fear And Loathing At The Department Of Labor: Has The OFCCP Become A Law Unto Itself?” [Cory Andrews, WLF, more]
“Look for the Union Label, not the Gender Role” [Sarah Skwire]
Freedom means freedom for everyone: joined by Prof. Eugene Volokh, Cato files First Amendment amicus brief on behalf of Colorado graphic/web designer who objects to working on same-sex weddings [Ilya Shapiro and James Knight on 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, Tenth Circuit]
CBS News misrepresents the state of pregnancy-accommodation law in the workplace [Jon Hyman]

Tags: age discrimination, government contract compliance, labor unions, pregnancy discrimination, prisoners, sex discrimination, transgender

Discrimination law roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Free speech roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 10:59:59 +0000

“‘Hate speech’ is not a legal category, and banning it wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny.” [Cato Daily Podcast episodes with Caleb Brown interviewing Matthew Feeney and Lou Perez]
“Civil FOSTA Suits Start Showing Up In Court; Prove That FOSTA Supporters Were 100% Wrong About Who Would Be Targeted” [Mike Masnick, TechDirt, earlier]
Cause célèbre in the U.K.: employment law tribunal, an institution with no exact counterpart in American law, rules against worker fired from nonprofit over tweets expressing view that sex is immutable biological characteristic [Owen Bowcott, The Guardian; Jodie Ginsberg (chief executive of Index on Censorship group]
California attorney general’s office demands donor lists of non-profits, including those out of state. Supreme Court should now clarify its doctrine that all laws infringing on First Amendment freedoms be narrowly tailored [Ilya Shapiro, Trevor Burrus, and James Knight on Cato certiorari amicus brief in Institute for Free Speech v. Becerra; earlier and related here, here, etc.]
Trump sues the New York Times for libel over a Max Frankel op-ed and Eric Turkewitz doesn’t think much of his prospects [earlier]
“Was This the Decade We Hit Peak Free Speech?” [Jesse Walker]

Tags: Donald Trump, free speech, hate speech, New York Times, transgender, United Kingdom

Free speech roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Religion and the law roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 11:01:51 +0000

New federal bill seeks middle ground on LGBT discrimination law and religious accommodation [Kelsey Dallas/Deseret News, “Fairness For All” coalition, sponsor Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) on bill] Early criticism from left and right [Daniel Silliman, Christianity Today; Katelyn Burns, Vox] The impulse to get past Culture War enmities is to be praised, even if, alas, some of the bill’s provisions would extend the coercive reach of federal law in ways libertarians would oppose;
Third Circuit panel, Judge Thomas Hardiman writing, rules in favor of atheist group challenging Pennsylvania county’s rejection of bus ads. Creates split with D.C. Circuit [Charles Gallmeyer, Jurist; Hemant Mehta; Northeastern Pennsylvania Freethought Society v. County of Lackawanna Transit System]
“Eighth Circuit holds that videographers have First Amendment free speech right to refuse to provide services at same-sex weddings” [Joseph Singer, KNSI (Minnesota); Telescope Media Group v. Lucero] Update on Sweet Cakes by Melissa case in Oregon [Adam Gustafson, Federalist Society; earlier] Federalist Society teleforum on Brush & Nib case [Phoenix wedding calligraphy] with Eric M. Fraser, Jennifer Perkins, and Jonathan Scruggs, and earlier;
And speaking of which: SCOTUS should resolve “expressive wedding vendor” issue once and for all [Ilya Shapiro and Michael Collins on Cato certiorari brief in (latest stage of) Arlene’s Flowers v. Washington, noting that “Cato is the only organization in the country to have filed briefs in support of both Jim Obergefell (lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage case) and Jack Phillips (owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop)”; earlier]
Article takes issue with currently popular idea that claims of harm to third parties should routinely defeat claims to religious accommodation [Mark Storslee, University of Chicago Law Review/SSRN]
“Top Scholars, Diverse Religious Groups Ask SCOTUS to Reconsider Employment Division v. Smith — Again” [Joseph Davis, Becket/Federalist Society on certiorari petition in Ricks v. Idaho Board of Contractors]

Tags: discrimination law, First Amendment, religious liberty, sexual orientation, transgender, transit

Religion and the law roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

New York: adoption ministry must comply or close

Walter Olson — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 16:57:33 +0000

New York bans the operation of adoption agencies that will not serve customers of all sexual and gender orientations and conditions of wedlock, whether or not such agencies receive any public funds or contracts. New Hope Family Services, a ministry that works with expectant mothers to place their newborns, has agreed to stop accepting new clients and now the question is whether it can go on servicing pending and completed placements. New York state is arguing no, but a Second Circuit panel of Judges José Cabranes, Reena Raggi, and Edward Korman has granted a preliminary injunction pending consideration of the agency’s First Amendment claims: “the strong public interest pertaining to adoption services, i.e., the welfare of children, both those already adopted and those awaiting adoption, is best served by granting rather than denying the requested injunction.” [ruling in New Hope Family Services v. Poole; Emma Folts/Daily Orange, Julie McMahon/Syracuse.com, Nicole Russell, Washington Examiner quoting me; my related WSJ piece on recent Western District of Michigan decision]

Tags: adoption, New York, religious liberty, sexual orientation, transgender

New York: adoption ministry must comply or close is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Discrimination law roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 10:01:45 +0000

Supreme Court reconvenes for new term and tomorrow will hear cases over whether Title VII ban on sex discrimination extends to sexual orientation and gender identity [SCOTUSBlog symposium with contributors including Richard Epstein, William Eskridge; Will Baude, Volokh Conspiracy; George Will; earlier here, here, here, etc.]
New York City Commission on Human Rights declares it a violation of anti-discrimination law to use the term “illegal alien” in workplace, rental, or public accommodation contexts “with the intent to demean, humiliate, or offend a person or persons.” Does it complicate matters that both federal law and the U.S. Supreme Court use “illegal alien” as a neutral descriptive? [Hans Bader]
Minneapolis passes law restricting landlords’ taking into account of tenants’ past criminal histories, evictions, credit scores [Christian Britschgi, Reason]
Obama-era Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) mandated burdensome pay data reporting by employers. Will courts allow a course correction? [Federalist Society teleforum with G. Roger King and James A. Paretti Jr., earlier here and here]
Professor who directs social justice center at Washington, D.C.’s American University proposes new federal Department of Anti-Racism that would wield ample power to order everyone around along with preclearance authority over all “local, state and federal public policies”; also “no political appointees” [Politico via Amy Alkon; Kelefa Sanneh, The New Yorker with more on work of Prof. Ibram X. Kendi]
Late in its tenure, Obama administration began warning Fannie Mae that discouraging some of the riskiest mortgages (>43% debt-to-income) “could be seen as a violation of the Fair Housing Act.” Fannie and Freddie “quickly complied” and brought the punch bowl back out [Damian Paletta, Washington Post/MSN]

Tags: discrimination law, EEOC, immigration law, landlord tenant law, Minnesota, mortgages, NYC, sexual orientation, transgender

Discrimination law roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

September 20 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 10:01:05 +0000

Oregon: “Union-Backed Ballot Initiative Would Limit Grocery Stores to 2 Self-Checkout Machines” [Christian Britschgi, Reason]
Not unexpectedly, given its own precedent, Ninth Circuit rules Idaho inmate entitled to sex reassignment surgery [Amanda Peacher and James Dawson, NPR; pre-ruling (July) KRCC/NPR podcast and interview with Peacher, I’m quoted as in earlier coverage; earlier]
I wrote a personal recollection at Cato of philanthropist David Koch;
“Flight attendants and airport staff now get trained to intervene in what federal officials (falsely) portray as an epidemic of airline-based sex trafficking which can be spotted by good Samaritans who know the ‘signs.'” And mistakes will happen [Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Reason]
Population growth has caused the Ninth Circuit to bulge at the seams. Left-right political advantage isn’t a good reason to break it up, but there are plenty of nonpolitical reasons that are good [Ilya Shapiro and Nathan Harvey, George Mason Law Review]
“The legal profession was regarded by both the authors of The Federalist and Alexis de Tocqueville as the anchor of the republic —- a barrier to destabilizing innovation and a constraint on excessive democratic passions.” What happened? [John McGinnis]

Tags: airlines, labor unions, lawyers, Ninth Circuit, Oregon, trafficking, transgender, WO writings

September 20 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Higher education roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 05 Aug 2019 09:59:30 +0000

Seventh Circuit panel rebukes Purdue in important Title IX case [KC Johnson, Minding the Campus] Since federal Dear Colleague letter pressuring them to revamp procedures in favor of accusers, colleges have been sued more than 500 times [Stephanie Gutmann, New York Post] Behind Harvard Title IX investigation of law professor Bruce Hay is a story of trust and betrayal that almost beggars belief [Kera Bolonik, New York] Analyzing student demands at Princeton [Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic]
For research institutions, exposure to False Claims Act liability is more than just a mouse nibble: Duke University will pay $112 million following allegations that it misrepresented progress of rodent studies [U.S. Department of Justice press release]
Waiting-and-seeing on the Trump campus free speech executive order [from this spring: Eugene Volokh; Heather Mac Donald (“The history of government mission creep and bloat is not reassuring”); FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) statement; Neal McCluskey, Cato; Keith Whittington; Donald Downs, Martin Center; Tyler Cowen]
Letter from 12 scholars: “Philosophers Should Not Be Sanctioned Over Their Positions on Sex and Gender” [Inside Higher Ed] “Self-Censorship on Campus Is Bad for Science” [Luana Maroja, The Atlantic] U.K.: “Stonewall’s LGBT Guidance is Limiting the Free Speech of Gender Critical Academics” [Kathleen Stock, Quillette; more]
“Cambridge University, which still drips with Norman money and influence, should now consider to what extent it needs to compensate its Anglo-Saxon victims.” [satire: Sahil Mahtani, The Spectator (U.K.)]
Gov. Ron DeSantis signs bill passed unanimously by Florida legislature defining as hateful in context of educational civil rights such things as “demonizing, applying a double standard to, or delegitimizing Israel.” Shouldn’t that be more controversial, especially as applied at university level, given that it takes in some kinds of core political speech? [John Haughey, Florida Center Square; Florida Politics: A.G. Gancarski, Scott Powers; Joe Cohn, FIRE]

Tags: colleges and universities, Florida, free speech, qui tam, Seventh Circuit, transgender, United Kingdom

Higher education roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

May 22 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 22 May 2019 10:02:20 +0000

My comment on the House-passed H.R. 5: “Proposed Equality Act would 1) massively expand federal liability in areas unrelated to sex, gender, or orientation; 2) turn 1000s of routine customer gripes into federal public-accommodations cases; 3) squeeze conscience exemptions hard. All are good reasons to oppose.” More: Scott Shackford, Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Hans Bader, and earlier here and here;
America is not in a constitutional crisis: “Politicians have become incentivized to declare constitutional crises because it enhances their own importance as saviors and demonizes their opponents as illegitimate.” [Keith Whittington; Vox mini-symposium with Ilya Somin and others] Mike McConnell vs. Josh Chafetz on whether the current Congressional subpoena fights are really that different from politics of the past [Jonathan Adler] Calm, down-the-middle analysis of the issues raised by the Mueller report [Cato Institute chairman Bob Levy]
“Mercedes Goes To Court To Get Background Use Of Public Murals In Promotional Pics Deemed Fair Use” [Timothy Geigner]
Bizarro sovereign-citizen notions are found in the background of more than a few serious financial fraud cases [Ashley Powers, New York Times]
Divestment and sanctions by state governments aimed at other U.S. states is a bad idea that never seems to go away. Now it’s being floated in Maryland, against Alabama [my Free State Notes post]
“A federal judge in Texas wants you to know she’s sick and tired of whiny lawyers” [Justin Rohrlich, Quartz from December, Brad Heath on Twitter; Align Technology v. ClearCorrect, Judge Vanessa D. Gilmore]

Tags: Alabama, art and artists, constitutional law, folk law, Maryland, photography, sexual orientation, transgender

May 22 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

May 15 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 15 May 2019 09:58:16 +0000

“Banana Costume Copyright Assailed at Third Circuit” [Emilee Larkin, Courthouse News, earlier]
In a new piece for The Bulwark, I sort through some comments by presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg critical of identity politics;
Supreme Court’s decision in Apple v. Pepper, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh joining four liberals, takes a little nick out of Illinois Brick doctrine limiting antitrust suits [my new Cato post]
Ninth Circuit will soon hear case in which judge ordered Idaho prison system to provide inmate with transgender surgery; I’m quoted saying lower court decision amounted to battle of the experts [Amanda Peacher, NPR/KBSX, plus followup piece (“medical necessity” not a fixed standard, definitions of cruel and unusual punishment hitched in some ways to public opinion) and NPR “Morning Edition”; audio clip]
“The Moral Panic Behind Internet Regulation” [Matthew Lesh, Quillette] “A Single Global Standard for Internet Content Regulation Is a Recipe for Censorship” [Jacob Mchangama, Quillette] And Jonah Goldberg on right-wing rage at social media platform moderation;
Some politicos in Britain engage in “‘karaoke Thatcherism’, preaching low-tax, low-regulation mantras divorced from new challenges or detail,” then falling for truly bad ideas like laws to assure real estate tenants indefinite tenure against owners’ wishes [Ryan Bourne]

Tags: antitrust, copyright, Idaho, landlord tenant law, online speech, prisoners, sexual orientation, social media, transgender, United Kingdom, WO writings

May 15 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

May 9 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 09 May 2019 10:02:15 +0000

Next sector for a boom in IP litigation: trade secrets? [Ike Brannon]
Creating split among federal appeals courts, Seventh Circuit rules auto-erotic asphyxiation falls under insurance policy exclusion for “self-inflicted injury.” [Volokh; Tran v. Minnesota Life Insurance Company] In its commentary, the Institute for Justice is willing to go there: “Will the Supreme Court resolve the split? Don’t hold your breath.”
“The county has assigned at least four prosecutors to handle the Bellevue cat case” as Miska, the most notorious cat in King County, Washington, lawyers up [KIRO, update]
I’m quoted in article on Supreme Court’s agreeing to consider whether 1964 ban on employment discrimination because of sex includes ban on transgender discrimination [Nicole Russell, Washington Examiner]
Federalist Society podcast on populist antitrust with Babette Boliek, Geoffrey Manne, William Rinehart, Hal Singer, and Joanna Tsai;
Did a mobile home park violate housing discrimination law by checking applicants’ lawful immigration status? Fourth Circuit ruling threatens to open “disparate-impact” floodgates Supreme Court warned of in earlier case [Ilya Shapiro and Nathan Harvey on Cato cert amicus in Waples Mobile Home Park v. de Reyes]

Tags: animals, antitrust, housing discrimination, intellectual property, Seattle, Supreme Court, transgender

May 9 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system