Monday a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to accept transgender people for military service starting January 1 as court cases about this Obama-era policy move forward. Last week, another federal judge in Maryland blocked President Trump’s reversal of a late Obama administration policy on transgender service members.
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Unfortunately, district court judges in both Maryland and the District of Columbia have chosen to ignore not only the Supreme Court’s guidance but also the facts and history behind the Trump policy. Up until 15 months ago, no commander in chief had ever allowed transgender persons to serve in the military. For the first six-and-half years of President Obama’s administration, the constitutionality of that policy prohibiting transgender soldiers was never in doubt.
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If a court can order the Department of Defense to accept recruits according to their self-identified gender instead of their biological sex, can it order them to assess those recruits according to the standards of their self-identified gender? Can a federal judge decide that the disparity between male and female graduation rates at the Marine Infantry Officers Course (the course has graduated one female candidate, thus far) is evidence that the course’s standards are biased against women? If the military changes its standards for promotion boards, can a judge sitting in San Francisco enjoin the changes if they don’t fit his notions of social justice?
Even if these hypothetical injunctions came to pass, and even if they were later overturned by appellate courts, they would cause immediate damage on the military by delaying implementation, creating uncertainty, and forcing the government to wade through costly litigation just to enact its policies.
Federal Judges Set A Dangerous Precedent By Blocking Trump’s Military Orders
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Unfortunately, district court judges in both Maryland and the District of Columbia have chosen to ignore not only the Supreme Court’s guidance but also the facts and history behind the Trump policy. Up until 15 months ago, no commander in chief had ever allowed transgender persons to serve in the military. For the first six-and-half years of President Obama’s administration, the constitutionality of that policy prohibiting transgender soldiers was never in doubt.
[clip]
If a court can order the Department of Defense to accept recruits according to their self-identified gender instead of their biological sex, can it order them to assess those recruits according to the standards of their self-identified gender? Can a federal judge decide that the disparity between male and female graduation rates at the Marine Infantry Officers Course (the course has graduated one female candidate, thus far) is evidence that the course’s standards are biased against women? If the military changes its standards for promotion boards, can a judge sitting in San Francisco enjoin the changes if they don’t fit his notions of social justice?
Even if these hypothetical injunctions came to pass, and even if they were later overturned by appellate courts, they would cause immediate damage on the military by delaying implementation, creating uncertainty, and forcing the government to wade through costly litigation just to enact its policies.
Federal Judges Set A Dangerous Precedent By Blocking Trump’s Military Orders
