D.C. Circuit Issues Additional Opinions in Doe v. Trump

Today the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued opinions from two judges in Doe v. Trump following the court’s January 4 unsigned order regarding the nationwide preliminary injunction that has been blocking Trump’s transgender military ban since October, 2017.

Jennifer Levi, Transgender Rights Project Director of GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) issued the following statement:

The opinions released
today from Judge Williams and Judge Wilkins reflect the sharp disagreement among
the panel about the basic legal framework governing this case.

Judge Williams
would give the government carte blanche to enforce any military policy it deems fit –
even one that singles out a group of people for discriminatory
treatment. We respectfully disagree.

Judge Wilkins’ opinion,
on the other hand, acknowledges the hardship the proposed military
policy creates for transgender service members, and says plaintiffs must
be given the chance to submit evidence to show that the
Mattis plan does not pass constitutional muster.

The bottom line here is
that the court’s January 4 ruling that the district court gave insufficient weight to the new circumstances in the case, including the
issuance of the March 2018 Mattis Plan, was narrow.

The plaintiffs have 21
days to file for rehearing by the full D.C. Circuit bench, and we are
considering our options thoroughly. For now, the nationwide
injunction prohibiting the ban from going into effect remains in place.