The Supreme Court on Monday issued a landmark ruling on jury secrecy, while declining to hear what would have been its first case on transgender rights. In Peña Rodriguez v. Colorado, the court ruled that if racial bias is found to influence a juror’s opinion, an inquiry into the jury deliberations–a secret practice–could be launched. The transgender rights case involved Gavin Grimm, a high school student and transgender man whose school did not allow him to use the boys’ bathroom. Here’s what you need to know about each case: 

Peña Rodriguez v. Colorado

In 2010, a jury found Miguel Angel Peña Rodriguez guilty of sexually harassing two sisters in a racetrack bathroom. One of the jurors, a former police officer referred to as H.C., said he thought Peña Rodriguez was guilty “because he’s Mexican, and Mexican men take whatever they want,” according to sworn statements from his fellow jurors. H.C. said the defendant’s alibi witness was not credible because he was “an illegal,” the sworn statements said. 

On Monday, in a five-to-three decision, the Supreme Court found that racial bias on the part of a juror–like H.C. in the Peña Rodriguez case–warrants an inquiry into jury deliberations. “Racial bias implicates unique historical, constitutional and institutional concerns,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority opinion. He added that for an inquiry to be justified, “there must be a showing that one or more jurors made statements exhibiting overt racial bias that cast serious doubt on the fairness and impartiality of the jury’s deliberations and resulting verdict.”

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan agreed with Kennedy, while Justices Samuel Alito, John Roberts, and Clarence Thomas dissented. Writing for the dissenting opinion, Alito called the prevailing opinion “startling,” adding that “although the court tries to limit the degree of intrusion, it is doubtful that there are principled grounds for preventing the expansion of today’s holding.”

The Gavin Grimm Case

In 2015, a local school board in Virginia enacted a policy that students must use the bathroom that corresponds with the gender on their birth certificate. This was a blow to transgender students who, like Grimm, want to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity. Grimm, represented by the ACLU,  challenged the policy in court. Last year, a federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, ruled that the policy is unlawful, concurring with the Obama Administration that Title IX, which protects students from sexual discrimination, also protects transgender rights.

But on Monday, the Supreme Court vacated the appeals court’s ruling, sending it back for further consideration. The case would have been the first transgender rights case to appear in the highest court. The decision to throw away the case for the time being was likely influenced by the Trump Administration’s repeal of an Obama Administration directive requiring public schools to allow students to use whichever bathroom matches their gender identity.

“Thousands of transgender students across the country will have to wait even longer for a final decision from our nation’s highest court affirming their basic rights,” Sarah Warbelow, the legal director of the Human Rights Campaign, told the New York Times.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent, the season of fasting and prayer in the Christian faith. To symbolize this, some Christians have ashes in the shape of a cross drawn on their foreheads. But this year, after a turbulent election season and uncertainty about what the future will look like for many minority groups, a faith-based organization in New York City that supports the LGBTQ community will mix its ashes with purple glitter.

“For me, glitter and ashes is the hope I feel in the resurrection of Christ,” said Reverend Marian Edmonds-Allen, who is executive director of the group Parity. The team behind the event, which goes under the name “Glitter+Ash Wednesday,” encourages churches across the country to do the same, as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer people have historically been unwelcome in churches.

Glitter ashes in solidarity with queer community in Hamp on Ash Wednesday. I got some. pic.twitter.com/V7Bn6unQFR

— Monte_Belmonte (@MonteBelmonte) March 1, 2017

But this modern take on a Christian tradition had some people seeing red. Jacob Lupfer, a columnist for Religion News Service in Maryland, doesn’t think this will lead to anything good. “Christianity is already divided, and now it’s along pro- and anti-gay lines,” he said. “It’s liturgically inappropriate to tamper with such an ancient and solemn rite.”

A Chicago Reverend, Donald Senior, agreed: “If you start changing its meaning, some are going to feel this is a political statement,” he said of the religious act, and added that it is a ritual that should be handled with a lot of respect.

Last week, the Trump Administration revoked guidelines from the Obama Administration allowing transgender students to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. The decision caused protests across the country, including at the legendary gay bar Stonewall Inn in New York.

Encouraging to see such a large turnout concerned for the safety of trans youth. Must continue to show up & resist to protect #transrights. pic.twitter.com/FEI6jdvsvZ

— Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) February 24, 2017

“Right now there are people in this country that feel threatened that their very presence should not be in public spaces,” said April Gutierrez, a pastor in Chicago who will also participate in the Glitter+Ash Wednesday.

But, there are many Christians who are progressive and want to show people from the LGBTQ community that they are accepted and loved. The author of “Queer Virtue”, Reverend Elizabeth M. Edman, said that the glitter is not meant to be disrespectful. For LGBTQ people, glitter often symbolizes the process of coming out and can be a very serious thing. To those that believe the glitter only means frivolity or party, she said, “It matters to understand that queer people understand very much the life-and-death aspect of Ash Wednesday. Some people hear glitter and think it’s frivolous. For queer people, glitter is serious business.”

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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The Trump Administration announced Wednesday that it will  reverse federal protections for transgender students in public schools, citing federal overreach. A letter jointly released by the Education Department and the Justice Department effectively leaves it up to individual schools to decide whether transgender students can use the bathroom that aligns with the gender they identify with.

The heads of the two departments that issued the letter, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, were reportedly at odds over rescinding the previous rule, which was instated by former President Barack Obama last May. According to Republicans with direct knowledge of the discussions, Sessions wanted to rollback the protections, while DeVos wanted to keep them because she worried about the potential harm it could cause transgender students.

The Attorney General needed DeVos to sign on to his directives, but she would not. Therefore Sessions took the matter to the White House where, in the Oval Office on Tuesday, he, DeVos, and President Donald Trump discussed what direction the administration would take. Trump sided with Sessions and told DeVos that she had a choice: agree or resign. She agreed.

The Obama Administration’s previous directive was enacted “without due regard for the primary role of the states and local school districts in establishing educational policy,” said the Education Department and Justice Department letter.

Reportedly at the urging of DeVos, the letter included a passage encouraging the protection of all students. “All schools must ensure that students, including L.G.B.T. students, are able to learn and thrive in a safe environment,” the letter said. 

Obama’s directive had not gone into effect–even before Trump rescinded it–because of two pending battles in federal courts. Last August, a federal district court in Texas issued an injunction on Obama’s order, blocking it from being implemented.

Judge Reed O’Connor, the presiding judge in that case, said the federal order put states “in the position of either maintaining their current policies in the face of the federal government’s view that they are violating the law, or changing them to comply with the guidelines and cede their authority over this issue.”

Wednesday’s announcement brought hundreds of protesters to the front of the White House, where they chanted: “No hate, no fear, trans students are welcome here.” Civil rights advocates also decried the new directive.

The rollback also prompted Jackie Evancho, the “America’s Got Talent” runner-up who sang the National Anthem at Trump’s inauguration, to tweet at Trump on Wednesday to ask the president to meet with her and her transgender sister to discuss transgender rights.

. @realDonaldTrump u gave me the honor 2 sing at your inauguration. Pls give me & my sis the honor 2 meet with u 2 talk #transgender rghts

— jackie evancho (@jackieevancho) February 23, 2017

“This is a mean-spirited attack on hundreds of thousands of students who simply want to be their true selves and be treated with dignity while attending school,” said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality in a statement.

In a separate statement DeVos said that issuing statutes regarding school policy is a state-level issue, and that the Education Department “remains committed to investigating all claims of discrimination, bullying and harassment against those who are most vulnerable in our schools.”

“We owe all students a commitment to ensure they have access to a learning environment that is free of discrimination, bullying and harassment,” wrote Devos.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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