A Jenner & Block team recently filed pro bono briefs in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Sixth, and Tenth Circuits on behalf of a group of First Amendment scholars in defense of the Department of Education’s Final Rule that extends Title IX’s protections against severe or pervasive harassment to transgender students.
The briefs argue that the final rule’s anti-discrimination standard has long been used by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under Title VII and the Department of Education under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. And that standard has and should never be interpreted to violate the First Amendment.
“Recognizing that the very same government protections against severe or pervasive discrimination and harassment that have been successfully applied in myriad contexts for decades also apply to transgender people does not change the constitutional analysis under the First Amendment, and the district court was wrong to hold that it did,” the briefs say.
The team included Associate Sierra Paskins, Law Clerk Donovan Hicks, Senior Paralegal Cheryl Olson, Paralegal Mary Frances Patson, Senior Manager of Docketing Services Tyler Edwards, and former Associate Kevin Zhang. Partner Jessica Ring Amunson supervised the team.
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