Free Republic

A federal judge is standing by a previous ruling that an Indiana transgender student must be allowed to use the boys restroom. Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, an Obama appointee, has denied a motion from the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville to put on hold a previous injunction forcing John R. Wooden Middle School to allow the transgender student to use the boys bathroom, WTHR-TV reported. Pratt ruled the district failed to show evidence that proved it would suffer "irreparable harm" if the student was allowed to use the boys restroom. "In addition, the School District has not presented any new...

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion to stay regarding a lower court decision allowing Jackson County to include the Nativity scene in its annual holiday display this year in front of the courthouse while the judges decide on the case. Liberty Counsel represents Jackson County, Indiana against the ACLU. Liberty Counsel recently presented oral argument before the three-judge panel defending the Nativity scene display at the Jackson County Courthouse. The holiday display which includes the Nativity has been ongoing for many years. After the 2019 display, the lower federal court ruled against the display. In addition to...

In Woodring v. Jackson County, Indiana, (SD IN, Nov. 3, 2020), an Indiana federal district court refused to stay its final judgment pending appeal in a case challenging the annual display of a creche on the county courthouse lawn. The court said in part: Because the crèche straddles the sidewalk subdividing the lawn and the more-secular figures are placed on the periphery, the venerable magi and hallowed manger share center stage. Id. Since the primary focus of the display is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, a reasonable observer would believe that Jackson County was endorsing a particular...