Latest news with #DuaneBenton
NBC News
6 days ago
- Health
- NBC News
U.S. appeals court upholds Arkansas law banning youth transgender care
A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld an Arkansas law barring doctors from providing gender-affirming care including puberty blockers, hormones and surgery to transgender minors. The 8-2 decision by the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns a lower court ruling. It also follows the U.S. Supreme Court's June ruling holding that Tennessee's similar ban did not discriminate based on sex or transgender status. Citing that ruling, the 8th Circuit's majority agreed with Arkansas' Republican attorney general that the law did not violate transgender minors' equal protection rights under the U.S. Constitution. The 8th Circuit also went further than the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, by deciding an unresolved legal issue of whether such bans violate parents' rights to provide appropriate medical care for their children. Lawyers for the plaintiffs — a group of minors, parents and health care professionals — argued the Arkansas law violated parents' due process rights under the U.S. Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment. But U.S. Circuit Judge Duane Benton, writing for the majority, cited a lack of historical support for the argument that parents have a right to obtain medical treatment for their children that a state legislature deems inappropriate. 'This court finds no such right in this Nation's history and tradition,' Benton wrote in an opinion joined by seven fellow appointees of Republican presidents. U.S. Circuit Judge Jane Kelly, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama, dissented along with another judge, citing a 'startling lack of evidence connecting Arkansas' ban on gender-affirming care with its purported goal of protecting children.' 'This is a tragically unjust result for transgender Arkansans, their doctors and their families,' said Holly Dickson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, which represented the plaintiffs. The decision overturns a ruling by a lower-court judge in 2023 who had declared the law unconstitutional after previously blocking it from taking effect in 2021. That year, Arkansas became the first U.S. state to ban gender-affirming care for minors. The Republican-led legislature passed the ban over the veto of then-Governor Asa Hutchinson, also a Republican. Since then, a slew of other Republican-led states have passed similar laws. Such policies are now in place in 25 states. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week upheld Oklahoma's own ban, citing the Supreme Court's ruling.
Time of India
7 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
US appeals court upholds Arkansas law banning youth transgender care
Boston: A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld an Arkansas law barring doctors from providing gender-affirming care including puberty blockers, hormones and surgery to transgender minors. The 8-2 decision by the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns a lower court ruling. It also follows the U.S. Supreme Court's June ruling holding that Tennessee's similar ban did not discriminate based on sex or transgender status. Citing that ruling, the 8th Circuit's majority agreed with Arkansas' Republican attorney general that the law did not violate transgender minors' equal protection rights under the U.S. Constitution. The 8th Circuit also went further than the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, by deciding an unresolved legal issue of whether such bans violate parents' rights to provide appropriate medical care for their children. Lawyers for the plaintiffs -- a group of minors, parents and healthcare professionals -- argued the Arkansas law violated parents' due process rights under the U.S. Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment. But U.S. Circuit Judge Duane Benton, writing for the majority, cited a lack of historical support for the argument that parents have a right to obtain medical treatment for their children that a state legislature deems inappropriate. "This court finds no such right in this Nation's history and tradition," Benton wrote in an opinion joined by seven fellow appointees of Republican presidents. U.S. Circuit Judge Jane Kelly, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama, dissented along with another judge, citing a "startling lack of evidence connecting Arkansas' ban on gender-affirming care with its purported goal of protecting children." "This is a tragically unjust result for transgender Arkansans, their doctors and their families," said Holly Dickson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, which represented the plaintiffs. The decision overturns a ruling by a lower-court judge in 2023 who had declared the law unconstitutional after previously blocking it from taking effect in 2021. That year, Arkansas became the first U.S. state to ban gender-affirming care for minors. The Republican-led legislature passed the ban over the veto of then-Governor Asa Hutchinson, also a Republican.
The Sun
7 days ago
- Health
- The Sun
US court upholds Arkansas ban on youth transgender healthcare
A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld an Arkansas law barring doctors from providing gender-affirming care including puberty blockers, hormones and surgery to transgender minors. The 8-2 decision by the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns a lower court ruling. It also follows the U.S. Supreme Court's June ruling holding that Tennessee's similar ban did not discriminate based on sex or transgender status. Citing that ruling, the 8th Circuit's majority agreed with Arkansas' Republican attorney general that the law did not violate transgender minors' equal protection rights under the U.S. Constitution. The 8th Circuit also went further than the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, by deciding an unresolved legal issue of whether such bans violate parents' rights to provide appropriate medical care for their children. Lawyers for the plaintiffs -- a group of minors, parents and healthcare professionals -- argued the Arkansas law violated parents' due process rights under the U.S. Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment. But U.S. Circuit Judge Duane Benton, writing for the majority, cited a lack of historical support for the argument that parents have a right to obtain medical treatment for their children that a state legislature deems inappropriate. 'This court finds no such right in this Nation's history and tradition,' Benton wrote in an opinion joined by seven fellow appointees of Republican presidents. U.S. Circuit Judge Jane Kelly, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama, dissented along with another judge, citing a 'startling lack of evidence connecting Arkansas' ban on gender-affirming care with its purported goal of protecting children.' 'This is a tragically unjust result for transgender Arkansans, their doctors and their families,' said Holly Dickson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, which represented the plaintiffs. The decision overturns a ruling by a lower-court judge in 2023 who had declared the law unconstitutional after previously blocking it from taking effect in 2021. That year, Arkansas became the first U.S. state to ban gender-affirming care for minors. The Republican-led legislature passed the ban over the veto of then-Governor Asa Hutchinson, also a Republican. Since then, a slew of other Republican-led states have passed similar laws. Such policies are now in place in 25 states. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week upheld Oklahoma's own ban, citing the Supreme Court's ruling. - Reuters
New York Times
21-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Supreme Court Declines to Hear Case on Age Limits for Carrying Guns
The Supreme Court on Monday turned down an opportunity to weigh in on whether the government may restrict 18- to 20-year-olds from buying or carrying guns, a question that has divided the lower courts. The case concerned a Minnesota law that makes it a crime for people under 21 to carry guns in public. Last year, the Eighth Circuit struck down the law, ruling that the Second Amendment required letting those as young as 18 be armed. 'The Second Amendment's plain text does not have an age limit,' wrote Judge Duane Benton, who was appointed by President George W. Bush. He relied on the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18 in 1971. The amendment, Judge Benton wrote, 'unambiguously places 18- to 20-year-olds within the national political community.' Lower courts have struggled to apply recent Supreme Court decisions that transformed Second Amendment law by introducing a new test to judge the constitutionality of gun control measures. As Justice Clarence Thomas put it in his 2022 majority opinion in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, such laws must be struck down unless they are 'consistent with this nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation.' Keith Ellison, Minnesota's attorney general, had urged the justices to return the case to the appeals court for reconsideration in light of United States v. Rahimi. In that case, decided last year, the Supreme Court ruled that the government can temporarily disarm people subject to restraining orders for domestic violence. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
