2 weeks Ago By Luc Cohen
A US appeals court has denied a request by the Trump administration to pause a lower court's decision blocking President Donald Trump's ban on transgender people serving in the military. Login or signup to continue reading US District Judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma, Washington last week issued a preliminary injunction putting on hold the military's new policy of identifying and discharging any transgender service members. The Trump administration appealed Settle's ruling, and asked the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to put the ruling on hold - which would have allowed it to enforce the ban for now - while the appeal played out.
On Monday, a three-judge panel at the 9th Circuit denied the Trump administration's request for a so-called administrative stay of Settle's ruling. The Defence Department declined to comment. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a similar case last week, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued an administrative stay on a lower court order blocking the transgender ban. But that court signalled it may quickly reconsider its decision if the military takes action against transgender members. In his March 27 order in a case brought by seven active-duty transgender service members, Settle wrote that the military had operated smoothly for four years under a policy allowing transgender people to serve openly.
"Any claimed hardship (the military) may face in the meantime pales in comparison to the hardships imposed on transgender service members," the judge, an appointee of Republican President George W Bush, wrote in his decision. In its request for an administrative stay, lawyers for the Trump administration said Settle substituted his judgment for that of the military. Absent a stay, the lawyers wrote, "the military will be forced to continue implementing a policy that the Department has determined is not compatible with military readiness and lethality.
" Lawyers with Perkins Coie are among those representing the seven plaintiffs who challenged the transgender ban in the case before Settle. Perkins Coie is among several prominent law firms Trump has targeted with executive orders that make it difficult to conduct business. A judge earlier this month blocked most of that executive order, which would have stripped security clearances from Perkins Coie lawyers and roll back their access to government officials.
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