"Hoist With His Own Petard"

You all probably have heard of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4^th Circuit ruling in the Virginia case, but this ruling can only be appealed to the Supreme Court and that is where the Republicans have been hoist with their own petard. Because there are only eight justices if Virginia does appeal the case we have two chances to win. If the ruling is 5-3 and justice Kennedy votes in our favor we win nationally; the ruling would cover the U.S., but if the vote is 4-4 then we win but only in the 4^th which includes North Carolina.

But even though everyone is shouting victory it is still too early for that, all the ruling does is send the case back to the federal district court. The New York Times said,

The ruling by a three-judge panel on Tuesday reversed the lower court’s dismissal of the Title IX claim, stating that the District Court “did not accord appropriate deference” to regulations issued by the Department of Education. The department’s current guidelines dictate that schools “generally must treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity.”

But the judge they sent the case back to is a conservative judge who was appointed by President Reagan, so he could still rule in the state’s favor by denying the injunction. We would back to square one with the case going back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4^th Circuit.

In a related issue the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights put their two cents into the North Carolina law.

Civil rights commission says N.C. bathroom law jeopardizes physical safety of transgender people
Washington Post
By Mark Berman
April 19, 2016

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights this week criticized controversial laws that were passed recently in North Carolina and Mississippi and considered in other places, describing the measures as discriminatory and potentially dangerous.

In a statement released Monday, the commission said that the North Carolina law directing transgender people to use bathrooms that match the gender on their birth certificate “jeopardizes not only the dignity, but also the actual physical safety, of transgender people.”

The commission said it had the same concerns about a Mississippi law that allows some businesses to refuse to serve same-sex couples, because that measure also allows certain businesses decide who is allowed to use bathrooms and locker rooms based on a person’s “anatomy and genetics at time of birth.”

But unfortunately, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights does enjoy any enforcement powers, so everyone can ignore them.