Federal Judge David Nye Blocks New School Bathroom Law as Idaho Students Return to the Classroom
By Sarah Clendenon • August 23, 2023Judge David Nye, the United States Chief District Judge for the District of Idaho, has blocked the implementation of legislation passed during the 2023 legislative session that would have created consistency statewide in how children use school bathrooms in Idaho public schools. His decision came just before the return to classes last week.
During the fall and early winter of 2022, school boards across Idaho were discussing policy changes to address the issues surrounding transgenderism, gender identity, and sexual orientation as these topics related to the use of public school bathrooms, locker rooms, and other changing facilities, as well as school trips with overnight accommodations. Idaho Dispatch reported on it in this article.
The issue became very contentious in Caldwell in January 2023 when a crowd of over one thousand that included parents, community members, and state legislators lined up outside in freezing temperatures to be heard by the Caldwell School Board. The vast majority of people were not heard by the board. We reported on that incident here. The district policy decision was pushed back, to be reconsidered at the February meeting. By then, draft legislation had been introduced to address the issue statewide. The Caldwell School Board tabled the issue, pending the outcome of the legislation.
The legislation, Senate Bill 1100, passed the Senate with 28 ayes and 7 nays, passed the House with 59 ayes, 10 nays, and 1 absent, and was signed into law by Governor Brad Little on March 22, 2023 with an effective date of July 1, 2023. This added a new Chapter 66 to Title 33 in Idaho law, which governs education. You can view the roll call vote here.
The text of the bill reads in part,
33-6603. SCHOOL RESTROOMS.
Advertisement(1) Every public school restroom or changing facility accessible by multiple persons at the same time must be:
(a) Designated for use by male persons only or female persons only; and
(b) Used only by members of that sex.(2) No person shall enter a multi-occupancy restroom or changing facility that is designated for one sex unless such person is a member of that sex. The public school with authority over the building shall ensure that all restrooms and changing facilities provide its users with privacy from members of the opposite sex.
(3) In any other public school setting where a person may be in a state of undress in the presence of others, school personnel must provide separate and private areas designated for use by persons based on their sex, and no person may enter these private areas unless such person is a member of the designated sex.
Advertisement(4) During any school authorized activity or event where persons share overnight lodging, school personnel must provide separate sleeping quarters for members of each sex. No person shall share sleeping quarters, a restroom, or a changing facility with a person of the opposite sex, unless the persons are members of the same family.
Just five days after the new law went into effect, an Idaho student who uses the pseudonym Rebecca Roe, along with a group called the Sexuality and Gender Alliance (SAGA) filed a legal challenege to Senate Bill 1100 in federal court. SAGA appears to be the name used by clubs on college campuses across the country that are support groups and/or activist groups for LGBTQ students. Court documents label the SAGA in this lawsuit as an association. There is little available information regarding an association of these clubs, but it may be linked by this organization, the GSA Network: What is a GSA club? – GSA Network. Additional information is found here: PRIDE Club – NTHS School Counseling (weebly.com)
The case is in the court of Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye for the District of Idaho. Attorneys representing the plaintiffs are listed as employees of Lambda Legal, a firm headquartered in New York with offices in Chicago, Dallas, LA, and more that focuses on LGBTQ issues, as well as the firm Munger Tolles & Olson, LLP which has offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. There are a total of 12 attorneys listed in the court documents representing the plaintiffs in the case.
“On July 6, 2023, Plaintiffs filed the above-entitled civil rights action challenging Idaho Senate Bill 1100 (“S.B. 1100”). Dkt. 1. S.B. 1100 was adopted on March 22, 2023, took effect on July 1, 2023, and requires, among other things, that students in Idaho public schools use the bathroom or locker room that corresponds with his or her biological sex, i.e. the person’s sex assigned at birth. Plaintiffs allege this law is unconstitutional and disproportionately harms students who identify as transgender. “
Documents shown here are the filings made up to and including August 21, 2023:
Lawsuit challenging SB1100Because it will take a substantial amount of time to conduct discovery in the case, the plaintiffs asked the court for a temporary restraining order blocking the implementation of SB1100. The court explains the difficulty in balancing the arguments by both sides regarding their constitutional rights and protections, and cites several cases as well as several recent decisions in the circuit courts. Ultimately the court’s decision on the temporary restraining order was to halt the implementation of Chapter 66, Title 33 Idaho Code prior to the school year beginning last week.
“Today, the Court puts a pause on S.B. 1100. It does not find it unconstitutional. It does not find it constitutional. This is not a full adjudication of any argument on the merits. The Court is simply holding S.B. 1100 in abeyance and preserving the situation as it existed prior to the parties’ disagreement, which is that S.B. 1100 will not be in effect when school starts on August 16, 2023. School districts may choose how to organize their bathrooms, changing facilities, and overnight accommodations—whether that is sex-separate or transgender-inclusive; whether it is consistent with what it did last year or not. But the State of Idaho will not be mandating that decision at this time.”
Representative Ted Hill (R-Eagle, D14) was the House floor sponsor of SB1100. Yesterday he told the Idaho Dispatch,
“The injunction to stop the institution of the Bathroom Bill policy outlined in SB1100 by Judge Nye is a real disappointment. The school boards and schools were desperate for a concise policy to answer parents and their rights to know their children will be safe at school.
This legislation was to ensure that public schools maintain separate bathrooms, locker rooms, dressing areas and overnight accommodations for biological boys and biological girls, while additionally the school would provide reasonable accommodations for any student unwilling or unable to use multi-occupancy facilities. The key here is all rights are being recognized. The rights for young girls to be safe, secure and comfortable in a place where they are most vulnerable and the rights for young boys to be safe, secure and comfortable in a place where they are most vulnerable, and then the rights for everyone else to be safe, secure and comfortable in a place where they are most vulnerable. Finally, and most importantly, the rights of parents to know their children are safe and secure when they are at school.
This injunction does not mean an end to this new policy, but it is just a hold for now. Schools are to revert to the policy they had in place before. This is less than encouraging as we will return to the uncertainty and chaos that was seen at many school board meetings. The hope is this will soon resolve, and this policy can be immediately instituted.”
Scott Graf, Communications Director for the Idaho State Department of Education, responded to our request for comment by saying,
“The department’s policy is to refrain from commenting on specific aspects of pending litigation, but we continue to confer with the Office of the Attorney General on the broader case going forward. “
The court has scheduled a motion hearing in this case for September 13 at 9am. You can view the hearing schedule here: U.S. District Court Calendar (uscourts.gov) using case number 1:23-cv-00315-DCN.
Photo credit to BrownsvilleRadio.com
Tags: 2023 Idaho Legislature, Bathroom Bill, Caldwell School Board, Caldwell School District, Gender Identity, Judge David Nye, Lambda Legal, LGBT, Munger Tolles and Olson LLP, Representative Ted Hill, School bathrooms, Senate Bill 1100, Sexuality and Gender Alliance (SAGA), Transgender
37 thoughts on “Federal Judge David Nye Blocks New School Bathroom Law as Idaho Students Return to the Classroom”
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Parents put extreme pressure on your school districts to conform with your direction, to what is moral, to that which aligns with God.
For all of us, quit electing School Board Members that are foolish clowns such as Caldwell’s School Board.
This is not in the jurisdiction of the Federal government. Nye should be impeached. You hear that, Idaho Congressional delegation. Probably, no one will stand up. Idaho needs to ignore the injunction and implement SB1100. The Governor and the Attorney General need to order SB1100 effective immediately. Will this happen. Probably not. Republicans lie when they say they are constitutionalists.
School Districts must be federal jurisdiction. Why else would the case be heard in federal court? It boggles the mind to have the people’s representatives vote overwhelmingly for passage of a bill only to have a judge override the will of the people.
No more so than bakeries, photographers, etc. are. It’s in Federal court because the scumbag lawyers from DC, LA, Chicago, San Francisco who are leading it are challenging the law on US Constitution grounds.
The problem isn’t the jurisdiction or the process. The problem is the judge. There’s no basis for an injunction. Yes, he clearly state he’s not ruling the law is or is not unconstitutional, but rather delaying it to allow the lawyers to perform discovery.
That’s BULLSH#T. There is no need for discovery. It comes down to ONE question and ONE question only. Is a person born a man capable of actually being a woman. The answer is no. On every scientific measure, the answer is no. So what these scumbags are claiming is that this is a violation of a transgender’s civil rights to bar them from the locker room / bathroom they CHOOSE to use. CHOOSE. Because they’re not women, they have no RIGHTS under the constitution for protections afforded WOMEN. There’s nothing complicated involved here, and there was no reason for an injunction to allow for discovery… because there’s no degree of discovery that is going to end in the conclusion that a person born with a wanker has the constitutional right to shower with people who weren’t. Period. The judge is a coward and should be removed.
Absolutely correct, Nye is supposed to be the Article III judge here in Idaho. Obviously, it is only a name to him. He should be removed with a “vote of no confidence”..:by the people of Idaho. It’s we the people and not any department or agency of government that has constitutional and lawful authority. This taken from the Idaho Blue Book published by the Secretary of State which I lawfully recorded. We need to recognize this fact and start act as necessary and proper.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1393262424786418&set=a.117540295691977&type=3&mibextid=I6gGtw
I agree…why is the judge listening to outside of Idaho liberal attorneys?
Remove this judge if he decide to kiss butt of these liberals.
Spot on.
This Judge needs to be immediately removed, and we should all take every action possible legally to remove this Judge. Right off the top this is a basic violation of the states rights. My opinion is when states rights are violated they have the option of secession. A fact of the constitution is that if you were under 18 your guardian or parent or parents are able to make these decisions for you the parents and guardians of Idaho have directed their representatives. The boys bathrooms are for boys and girls or for girls. in my opinion, based on the constitution states rights there’s so many levels that are being violated here and we need to do everything including direct refusal to comply. It is supposed to be we the people not we the government not we the judges we are supposed to be a constitutional state that make our own decisions within the constitution. All these other laws that are added on our watering down and eliminating the strength of our freedoms spelled out in the constitution and it’s time we put our foot down and start throwing these people out of office.
Wemare a nation of dumbed down Tv watchers. With a politician and government employee crime gang that has gone beyond their value
As a sovereign state, Idaho should care very little about what a federal judge says.
Secede, now!
Agree! Secede !
Idaho will just tell the judge to go fly a kite. More parents will begin pulling their children out of the public schools. The gubmint will not tell us to mock our GOD and go against HIS laws.
WE WILL NOT COMPLY…
Judge David Nye, appointed by President Obama and approved by Senator Risch and Senator Crapo. Good job guys, applause all around.
Sarcasm I hope? Nye is another RINO like the two who approved him from the 2nd worst president in history.
Simple solution. Every Christian needs to immediatly pull their kids from the class rooms. Make it a ghost town populated by queers.
I have no tolerance for this mental illness and insanity anymore. Parents should show up at schools and police both the bathrooms and changing areas to make sure that the biological sexes use the proper facilities.
How?
It appears that the school boards are able to control this situation and they are subject to recall by their electorate. So basically the citizens of the school districts can recall any immoral individual that supports allowing mixed sexual use of a restroom or dressing area. Let Idaho stand strong as that light on the hill for morality, ethics and virtue.
If boys can make believe they are girls, then why can’t I make believe I am a Supreme Court justice and overturn Judge David Nye’s ruling.
Because only the Left get’s to make up reality as their whims dictate, whether consistent or not, and the Right allows it because they don’t see secession as an option, you know, cuzs slavery. Besides, Lincoln the great warmonger says “no” to that, and he was a “great man” because forcing participation at gun point in the union is what we now accept as legitimate authority. The Right is stupid as f and brought this upon themselves.
Your wish is granted Sir Martin B
So we can Sue David Nye if a Pervert hurts our children in a bathroom because he apr robes child abuse is what I’m seeing. Don’t be NYE, bam the perverts ! It’s simple.
This federal judge has no jurisdiction over this state law.
This judge is an embarrassment and an insult to we the people of Idaho and of the United States of America. He should immediately be recalled. I’ve read the Constitution and there is no mention that I am able to find that says young ladies should have no right to privacy if some male would like to see them nude. Trans-whatever you choose can use the facility appropriate for your God-given sex without being in a room for nude young women. This is not in any way “against” anyone. This is common-sense, privacy and respect for human rights, and generally our children. Our children deserve adults to use their brains, employ critical thinking (although this doesn’t take much thought), and respect our children. Teach them, as every other country in the world tries, math and science, and not nonsense and disrespect. Recall this unprofessional, politically motivated judge now.
Agree with all the comments about the Federal judge basically overstepping our state rights. This should not be allowed to stand. What are the purposes of a state legislature and state rights if they can be basically denied by a single political appointee…attorney or otherwise?
If you take chapter 66 and title 33…. you get 666. What think yea?
This is a State matter. A federal judge does NOT have jurisdiction.
Where is it stated in the constitution of the United States of America that the federal government has jurisdiction over this. NOWHERE!
That means it is a matter left up to the state.
Parents and citizens of conscience need to call their schools and ask what their schools are planning to do. Will they protect children or not. Will they obey the state laws or cave to a vocal perverted minority. The time to be quiet is over. Demand protection of your children and promise legal actions if your child is violated.
As the standard process for legislation that represents the needs and desires of the majority of “We the People” is repeatedly being undermined by the judicial system, it seems we need congressional legislation that would force the judicial system to confront its unethical and unconstitutional behavior.
People who hink the judges work for the people and are delusional. Courts exist to rob you and enslave you in order to enrich the power class and enslave everyone else to keep the pensions flowing for your masters. Keep playing and losing and wondering what happened to America and the US Constitution. Your complaints are irrelevant and your slaverly is assured. Pedos and corrupt grifters run every agency of the °government° that Americans fear and loath as we cry and submit. Stop funding and complying with your masters, it is your only justice.
Where the hell does a federal court get power to stop a state law duly passed by the Legislature, especially before the case is heard? This is guilty until proven innocent. This is courts taking power that the constitution does not give them.
Judge Nye would set a precedent that bathrooms can be designated as special acknowledgements of a feeling. However one feels about oneself could generate a requirement that a bathroom must reflect a unique quality that the identifier demands. Special rights could be manufactured, based on whims. Fake science could be cultivated to reinforce the new special feeling. This stuff could be perpetual. It’s insane.