Latest news with #order
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Another federal judge protects transgender Air Force members from adverse government action
A federal judge in New Jersey granted a temporary restraining order Monday blocking the U.S. military from separating two transgender airmen under President Donald Trump's reinstated transgender military ban, offering immediate protection as the broader challenge to the policy plays out in court. Keep up with the latest in + news and politics. The order came in Ireland v. Hegseth, filed on behalf of Master Sgt. Logan Ireland and Staff Sgt. Nicholas Bear Bade, who were recently removed from their posts and placed on involuntary administrative absence under the Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness executive order, EO 14183. Both have served with distinction in the Air Force for years. 'These Airmen have risked everything to protect American freedoms — they deserve better than becoming the targets of a calculated, political purge,' said Jennifer Levi, senior director of transgender and queer rights at GLAD Law, which is representing the plaintiffs alongside the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the law firms Stapleton Segal Cochran, and Langer Grogan & Diver. The court's order halts the Air Force from continuing administrative separation proceedings against the two while litigation continues. It follows a separate ruling last week in Talbott v. Trump, in which a federal judge in Washington, D.C., issued a preliminary injunction blocking the ban's enforcement nationwide. D.C. U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes called it discriminatory, unsupported by evidence, and 'soaked in animus.' Despite that ruling, Ireland and Bade were still facing imminent expulsion, prompting a separate filing in New Jersey when the judge in the Talbott case denied an amendment to include their names before the injunction hearing. 'These are two guys who needed immediate relief,' Shannon Minter, legal director at NCLR, told The Advocate. 'We initially were trying to add them to the D.C. case, but by the time we were seeking to add them, it was too late to include them before the preliminary injunction hearing, so we couldn't wait.' In granting the temporary order, U.S. District Judge Christine P. O'Hearn wrote that Ireland and Bade demonstrated both a likelihood of success in challenging the ban and the risk of irreparable harm — including loss of career, damage to their reputations, and violation of constitutional rights. The court rejected arguments by government attorneys that the plaintiffs could seek relief through internal military channels, citing their removal from deployment and looming involuntary separation proceedings set to begin Wednesday. 'The loss of military service under the stigma of a policy that targets gender identity is not merely a loss of employment; it is a profound disruption of personal dignity, medical continuity, and public service,' O'Hearn wrote. Pentagon officials told Reyes in D.C. that separations would not begin until Friday. Bade, a six-year Air Force veteran inspired by his grandfather's World War II service, had been deployed in Kuwait as part of the base's security forces. He was pulled from duty and forced home. 'For six years, I've strived to embody what Americans expect from their military: expertise, character, and leadership,' Bade said. 'Now, I've been prevented from serving the troops I mentor and the nation I've committed my life to protect — all while living by the Airman's Creed that I will never falter, and I will not fail.' Ireland, a decorated 14-year veteran stationed in Hawaii, had been attending a training mission in New Jersey when he was ordered to leave and placed on administrative absence. 'My team in the Indo-Pacific wants their leader back — the one who wears the same uniform and swore the same oath as they did,' Ireland said. Monday's ruling comes just days after a tense hearing in D.C., where Reyes grilled Justice Department attorneys over the administration's last-minute effort to undo the nationwide block on the policy in Talbott. 'There's nothing in the record right now that tells me how many complaints there have been with respect to unit cohesion or military readiness with respect to gender dysphoria,' Reyes told DOJ lawyer Jean Lin, who was unable to identify who authored the policy or whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had even reviewed it. Reyes accused the administration of 'gaslighting' the court and called its claims 'frankly ridiculous,' warning that any transgender service member negatively affected before the stay on the injunction is lifted could seek a TRO — which is precisely what Ireland and Bade have now obtained. As both the Talbott and Ireland cases proceed, advocates stress that the stakes extend beyond a few individual careers. 'Thousands of transgender service members like me fill critical roles requiring years of specialized training,' Ireland said. 'Removing us creates dangerous operational gaps across every theater.' The New Jersey case was narrowly focused on preventing immediate harm to the two plaintiffs, Minter said. 'We're just seeking narrow relief for those two, just to prevent them from being put into separation proceedings while this is all getting sorted out in the D.C. and soon Washington cases,' he said. 'If the D.C. Circuit allows the injunction to go into effect, then their case is fine. They don't need to take any further action right now. If it does not, then they will need to seek a PI [preliminary injunction] from that judge.' The restraining order remains in effect for 14 days unless extended.
Chicago Tribune
04-03-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Lake County Land Order decision released by state, will not be modified
An Indiana state department has released its decision on the 2023 Lake County Land Order, claiming the order was properly prepared and should not be modified. On Aug. 1, 2023, one of Gary's largest landowners, Andy Young, submitted a petition with 171 signatures, requesting a review of the Lake County Land Order. Young wasn't available on Tuesday to immediately provide a comment about the decision. 'The Department finds that the taxpayers submitted no probative evidence to support any of their claims that the Department should deny or change the 2023 Land Order,' said the decision, signed by Indiana Department of Local Government Finance Commissioner Jason Cockerill. 'The Department finds that all aspects of the 2023 Land Order comply with legal requirements and assessment standards both in Indiana Code and in the Indiana Administrative Code. The Department orders no change to the 2023 Lake County Land order.' The DLGF also received ratio studies for each Lake County township and found that all data was 'in compliance with standard assessment and appraisal standards.' The department studied properties in both Calumet Township and Miller Beach, and found that both neighborhoods met ratio study parameters for median sales, coefficient of dispersion, and price related differential. The order recorded significantly higher land values in Calumet Township and foreshadows higher property taxes in the area, according to Post-Tribune archives. Property taxes fund government services provided by counties, townships, municipalities, school districts and other local government bodies, and are based on the market value of a property determined by an assessor's office. Indiana properties are assessed every four years, with 25% of a county's properties assessed each year. Lake County Assessor LaTonya Spearman, on June 21, 2023, submitted the land order to the Lake County Property Tax Appeals Board at a public meeting. The jump in property values was because of updated assessment methods that have rectified a long-term problem with the undervaluation of Calumet Township properties, according to Post-Tribune archives. Since a petition was submitted and followed exact criteria, the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance had to review land values and make a decision following a public hearing. The Department of Local Government Finance conducted a public hearing on Oct. 10, 2023, and reviewed the land order and analyzed information submitted by taxpayers, primarily from the Gary and Miller Beach areas, according to the department's decision. According to Post-Tribune archives, Lake County taxpayers called the assessed orders exorbitant and excessive, with several of them identifying themselves as Miller residents living on modest or fixed incomes. They expressed frustration with paying larger property taxes while living where government services are unreliable. Some speakers said that data was skewed to result in a land order that reflects unfairly inflated property values. More than 200 taxpayers wrote to the DLGF with concerns about the land order. Most were Miller Beach residents, and the department's decision said some cited older age, fixed incomes and difficult circumstances that would make payment of higher tax bills impossible. Taxpayers also expressed that local services are lacking and that short-term rental property investors were driving property values up. 'Many residents stated they had lived there for decades and would be forced to sell with increased property values that might lead to higher property taxes,' the decision said. 'Some residents in Miller Beach expressed concern that there are no shops or cafes to help shoulder tax burdens and that therefore residential homeowners carried the weight of property taxes.' The Lake County assessor 'submitted thousands of individual data set points' to support land order values, which included the 2023 Lake County Land Order, neighborhood counts, 2021-22 sales by neighborhood, and the Calumet Township Land Order. The assessor also provided a list of parcels owned by Young and Gary resident James Nowacki as of Jan. 1, 2023, and a list of parcels sold by both. Young owned 1,464 parcels in 2023, and DLGF found properties sold by Young had an assessed value of $283,200 and had a total sale price of more than $4.6 million.
