PRESS RELEASE: DFI Fights Biden-Harris Administration’s Radical Title IX Rule in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit 

WASHINGTON—Despite preliminary injunctions covering 26 states, including four states represented by the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies, the Biden-Harris administration continues to respond to an unrelenting litany of court losses by dragging out litigation over its illegal Title IX rule rather than withdrawing the rule in its entirety.  

DFI and its co-counsel, the Attorney Generals of Louisiana, Mississippi, Idaho, and Montana, filed a brief with the Fifth Circuit explaining why the court should reject the Biden-Harris administration’s attempt to overturn the preliminary injunction against the Title IX rule issued by the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

In a response to the Biden-Harris administration’s appeal, DFI and its co-counsel argue the U.S. Department of Education’s new regulations unlawfully contradict the text and purpose of Title IX by illegally expanding the law, which prohibits discrimination in educational programs and activities on the basis of “sex,” to include “gender identity”; weaponizing the law to stifle free speech and due process on campus; and imposing onerous, unrecoverable compliance costs and obligations on school districts and schools.

“The Department has no authority—much less clear authority—to issue regulations that subvert Title IX or require recipients to violate constitutional rights as the Rule does,” DFI and its clients state in the court filing.

DFI President and Co-Founder Bob Eitel added, “The writing is on the wall: This rule is illegal, clearly harmful to students and school districts, and cannot withstand legal scrutiny. As co-counsel for the plaintiff states, DFI is proud to have filed the first-in-the-nation lawsuit against this rule and to have won the first-in-the-nation preliminary injunction. Along with Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, and Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, DFI is in this fight to preserve Title IX, and we are confident we will prevail.”

To read the brief filed on September 19, 2024, by DFI and the plaintiff states, click here. Oral arguments in this case are scheduled for Monday, November 4, 2024, at 5 p.m. in New Orleans. 

To read the original complaint in this case, click here.

Additional Information
DFI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan legal advocacy and policy group focused on education and civil rights. It has a strong track record defending Title IX. In B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Board of Education, DFI filed an amicus brief arguing that West Virginia’s “Save Women’s Sports” bill does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Last year, DFI filed an amicus brief in Soule v. Connecticut Association of Schools in support of four female athletes forced to compete against a male in girls’ high school track competitions. In The State of Tennessee v. U.S. Department of Education, DFI filed an amicus brief asserting the Biden administration does not have the legal authority to rewrite Title IX to include “gender identity.”