Maine Rep Laurel Libby appeals Biden-appointed judge's verdict on controversial trans athlete censure
Maine GOP state Rep. Laurel Libby filed an emergency appeal with the First Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday over a recent ruling that upheld her censure in the legislature.
The state's Democrat majority voted to censure her for writing a social media post that identified a trans athlete who won a girls' state pole vault competition in February. Libby filed a lawsuit against House Speaker Ryan Fecteau to have it overturned, but Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose ruled against Libby on Friday.
DuBose was appointed by former President Joe Biden just before he left office in January.
Libby previously told Fox News Digital that she would appeal the ruling once it was announced, and now she has, and she is willing to take her case to the Supreme Court.
"Our appeal asks the court to correct this abuse of power and reaffirm that legislative leadership cannot use procedural maneuvers and sweeping assertions of immunity to sideline dissenting voices and disenfranchise entire communities," Libby told Fox News Digital in a statement.
"I remain optimistic that the court will recognize what is plainly at stake: the integrity of representative government and the foundational principle that no elected official, no legislative leader, and no partisan majority is above the Constitution. The people of House District 90 deserve full representation, and we intend to see that right restored."
Libby represents 9,000 constituents in Maine's 90th District and has not been able to speak or vote on their behalf in the state legislature for two months.
"This appeal is about far more than one legislator's seat – it's about defending the constitutional rights of 9,000 Mainers who currently have no voice and no vote in the Maine House of Representatives," Libby said.
"I'm grateful for the support of my constituents and so many others across Maine who understand the importance of speaking truth and standing firm. I will continue to press forward until the voices of the people I was elected to represent are heard once again in Augusta."
DuBose presided over the case after every district judge in Maine refused to take it.
Judges John C. Nivison, John A. Woodcock, Lance E. Walker, Karen F. Wolf, Stacey D. Neumann and Nancy Torresen signed recusal orders shortly after the case was initially filed. No reason was given.
So the case went to DuBose in Rhode Island.
The censure so far has cost her a chance to vote on the state's biannual budget and propose a bill to expand access to mental health resources for residents. It also prevents Libby from voting on or speaking on the House floor about a bill that would add trans inclusion in girls' sports to the state constitution.
Her colleagues will vote on the Democrat majority's bill after it passed with a slim simple majority in the House on Thursday, but it needs a two-thirds majority in both chambers before it can go before voters. If passed, it would codify in the state's constitution the Maine Human Rights Act, which protects the rights of transgender athletes to compete for sports teams of the opposite sex.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state for its ongoing defiance of Trump's Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports executive order. Maine has faced federal pressure in the last two months over its refusal to comply, including two federal investigations, a funding freeze by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and now a lawsuit.
The Democrat leadership in the state, led by Gov. Janet Mills, has fought back by filing its own lawsuit against Trump over the funding freeze. Another federal judge has already ruled the USDA must unfreeze the funding.
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