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By Laura Jarrett, CNN
Updated 2:52 PM ET, Wed August 9, 2017
... The service members, who are not named, all say they have relied on the Defense Department's current policy permitting open service by transgender service members and argue Trump's ban, which may result in early termination or failure to renew their contracts, is unconstitutional.
The President's three-tweet plan to stop transgender individuals from serving in the military has yet to be formally implemented, but attorneys for the service members have asked a federal court in Washington to block it immediately ...
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/09/politics/first-lawsuit-trump-transgender-service-members/index.html
Gothmog
(144,939 posts)Gothmog
(144,939 posts)This lawsuit is well drafted and will be fun to watch http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2017/08/09/nclr_and_glad_file_lawsuit_against_trump_s_transgender_troops_ban.html
In their lawsuit, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) allege the White House has turned Trumps tweets into official guidance to be communicated to the Department of Defense. They argue that this guidance infringes upon the equal protection and due process rights of trans troops. According to their complaint, the categorical exclusion of transgender people from military service based on their sex and transgender status lacks any rational basis and is therefore too arbitrary to comport with the Fifth Amendments equal protection component. Moreover, the policy would deprive transgender service members of their property and liberty interests based exclusively on their gender identity, a capricious deprivation of due process.
The complaint also asserts that the government cannot lawfully rescind rights already granted to trans troops. In June 2016, the Pentagon ended its ban on open trans service, a policy that many troops relied upon in coming out as transgender. The suit alleges that the military may not now reverse this policy and punish those troops who informed their commanding officers that they are transgender in reliance upon that promise from the Pentagon. It seeks an injunction prohibiting the categorical exclusion of transgender people from military service.
Trumps attempts to reinstate a ban have blindsided thousands of transgender service members who are now scrambling to determine what this means for their families and their futures, NCLR legal director Shannon Minter told me. We are appalled by the presidents callous mistreatment of transgender soldiers, and we want to send a message loud and clear that we will aggressively challenge any attempt to harm them.
The suits constitutional theories are especially compelling in light of the unprecedented nature of Trumps policy: Never before has the Pentagon invited a new group of individuals to serve, then broken its promise and purged them from the ranks based solely on political judgment. The due process concerns raised by such a move are heightened by troops reliance interest. It is one thing to prohibit transgender people from enrolling in the military in the first place. To invite enrolled trans troops to come out, then expel them for making that decision on the basis of mere animus would seem to push the limits of due process. As a general rule, the government may not extend a guarantee of liberty to individuals and then punish them for relying upon that guarantee. On the merits, the plaintiffs have a strong case.
Docreed2003
(16,850 posts)Gothmog
(144,939 posts)Initech
(100,041 posts)Fuck Trump!