Author: Chris Geidner

Chris Geidner is an award-winning journalist who covers the Supreme Court, law and politics at Law Dork. His more than two decades in journalism includes widely recognized coverage of the courts, LGBTQ issues, the criminal legal system, and other complex legal and political questions. He previously worked as the Supreme Court correspondent and legal editor at BuzzFeed News and has written for The New York Times, MSNBC, Bolts, Grid, The Appeal, Metro Weekly and elsewhere.

Anti-Gay Marriage Former County Clerk Kim Davis Lost Again, Unanimously—But This Still Might Not Be the End

Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue same-sex couples marriage licenses, lost her appeal on Thursday of a lawsuit she previously lost at trial that was brought by same-sex couples whose constitutional right to marry she violated.

All three judges on the panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit—which included one Trump appointee—agreed that Davis should lose her appeal.

But … Davis and her lawyers could now seek Supreme Court review. In seeking such review, Davis’ lawyers could raise the question of overturning Obergefell directly to the justices.

For now, though, Davis lost—again, and unanimously—from a panel of 6th Circuit.

Don’t Let Donald Trump and Elon Musk Talk Us Out of Democracy

Trump and Musk are testing the limits, trying to sell America on being an authoritarian state—but they can’t do it unless we allow them to do so.

When Justice Department lawyers go to court, trying to defend many of Trump and Musk’s actions, DOJ has regularly lost—and often face tense moments in court before being dealt those losses.

On Monday, for example, Judge John Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, heard arguments over a group of doctors’ lawsuit challenging the removal of webpages and datasets by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Department for Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of the government-wide censorship purge put into effect following Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order defining “sex” to exclude transgender people.

Mifepristone Access, and What Comes Next for the Medication Abortion Drug

The future of mifepristone access is up in the air on multiple fronts right now—just five months after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s treatment of the medication abortion drug.

Now, though, Donald Trump has won election to the presidency—and questions about what his new administration will do to federal policy surrounding the drug are front and center.

Speaker Johnson Announces Anti-Trans Bathroom Ban Throughout U.S. Capitol

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday issued a statement purporting to ban transgender women from women’s restrooms and transgender men from men’s restrooms throughout the Capitol and House office buildings. 

The policy announcement from the Republican House leader was the latest move in a multi-day attack on Sarah McBride, a Democrat elected to represent Delaware in the House who will be the first out transgender member of Congress. The move also comes in the midst of attacks on transgender people more broadly—in legislation and campaigns, and elsewhere—and just weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court is due to hear a major case over the constitutionality of anti-trans laws banning gender-affirming medical care for minors.

DOJ Asks Supreme Court to Allow Most of the New Sex Discrimination Rule to Go Into Effect

The Justice Department went to the U.S. Supreme Court this week in defense of the Biden administration’s new Title IX sex discrimination rule that includes transgender protections—arguing strongly that the logic of the rule is “compelled” by the Court’s ruling in Bostock.

The rule, issued under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, is set to go into effect on Aug. 1.