Federal judge first to rule against states on new Title IX rules

U.S. District Judge Annemarie Axon ruled on Tuesday that four southern states did not prove they were likely to win a lawsuit against the Biden administration. The Biden administration’s new rules would apply protections in the landmark women’s rights law to include LGBTQ+ people. The administration changed its rules for how it would enforce Title IX earlier this year. The states reportedly rushed to appeal, as the rules are scheduled to go into effect on Thursday. Critics such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have argued the rules would undermine the very women’s programs that Title IX was written to protect. Several other federal judges have blocked the administration from enforcing the new rules in more than a dozen states.

What states are affected by Axon’s ruling? South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia all sued. They asked for a preliminary injunction preventing the administration’s rule from going into effect at all, or just preventing it from going into effect in their states. The states argued that the administration’s new definitions of sex and sexual harassment exceed legal definitions previously established by the Supreme Court. The administration claimed the rule changes would better protect LGBTQ+ students from discrimination.

How many other states are in court over this? More than half the states in the union were involved in some form of Title IX-related litigation as of this week, according to Axon’s opinion. The U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month passed a bill to roll back the administration’s new rule. Meanwhile, the administration has asked the Supreme Court to roll back the preliminary injunctions handed out by federal judges before Axon’s decision on Tuesday.

Why did Axon refuse the preliminary injunction? She said that, later on in the litigation process, she could possibly rule against the administration’s new Title IX rules. But at this stage, the states had not demonstrated that they deserved a preliminary injunction preventing the law from going into effect. Axon found that the evidentiary record was too undeveloped and inconclusive for the states to prove they could win at trial.

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’ report in Liberties about the legal challenges that have broadsided the administration’s new Title IX rule.