A Maine Republican state lawmaker censured over a Facebook post knocking a transgender high school athlete cannot be barred from voting while her legal challenge plays out, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The unsigned order granted state Rep. Laurel Libby’s request to restore her voting and speaking privileges – which were stripped in February by the Democratic-controlled Maine House of Representatives over her social media post.
Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, with Jackson arguing that the case did not require emergency intervention from the high court.
“The First Circuit is moving quickly to evaluate the legal issues this case presents, with oral argument scheduled to occur in a few weeks,” Jackson wrote in her dissent.
“Meanwhile, before us, the applicants have not asserted that there are any significant legislative votes scheduled in the upcoming weeks; that there are any upcoming votes in which Libby’s participation would impact the outcome; or that they will otherwise suffer any concrete, imminent, and significant harm while the lower court considers this matter,” she added.
Jackson further argued that the ruling would incentivize others to rush to the Supreme Court for emergency relief and that Libby “failed to demonstrate” that her “right to this relief is ‘indisputably clear.’”
Libby, who has served in the Maine statehouse since December 2020, was censured after she posted a photo of a high school transgender pole vaulter standing on the first-place step of a state championship podium.
“We’ve learned that just *ONE* year ago John was competing in boy’s pole vault… that’s when he had his 5th place finish,” Libby wrote in the Feb. 17 Facebook post. ”Tonight, ‘Katie’ won 1st place in the girls’ Maine State Class B Championship.”
Maine’s Democratic House Speaker Ryan Fecteau demanded that Libby apologize over the post as a condition of her censure, which she refused, leading to the voting and speaking ban.
“VICTORY!” Libby wrote on X Tuesday after the high court granted her petition for relief.
“The U.S. Supreme Court just restored the voice of 9,000 Mainers! After 2+ months of being silenced for speaking up for Maine girls, I can once again vote on behalf of the people of House District 90,” the state rep added. “This is a win for free speech — and for the Constitution.”
Democratic Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, representing Fecteau, had argued that barring Libby from voting and participating in debates was a “modest punishment” in line with statehouse rules.
“Rep. Libby has steadfastly refused to comply with this modest punishment, which is designed to restore the integrity and reputation of the body,” Frey’s office wrote to the high court. “Her refusal places her in breach of a centuries-old rule of the Maine House, Rule 401(11), that Rep. Libby previously agreed, along with all of her House colleagues, would govern House proceedings.”
“Rule 401(11) provides that a member found by the body to be in breach of its rules may not participate in floor debates or vote on matters before the full House until they have “made satisfaction,” i.e., here, apologized for their breach.”
Libby had argued that the ban violated the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection.
