Court Dismisses Appeal of the Justice Department's Transgender Ban

• The court did not consider the appeal regarding the Justice Department's transgender ban.
• The appeal related to the statements made in court during hearings about transgender individuals.
• The decision to dismiss the appeal was announced on September 29.

Washington (AP) — A federal court dismissed the Justice Department's appeal, which accused a federal judge of "hostile and crude" behavior during hearings in a case concerning the ban on transgender individuals in the military.

The appeal was filed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which, it claims, improperly requested a government attorney about his religious beliefs and sought to compel him to testify during last summer's hearings.

On September 29, the chief judge of the appellate court for the District of Columbia, Sr. Srinivasan, dismissed the appeal. He noted that the Justice Department should have filed a motion for clarification regarding the ruling from the Reyes court to avoid its nonprecedential nature.

The Justice Department did not request a clarification from Reyes in the case regarding transgender individuals and did not submit a motion for a review of the chief judge's decision, which did not contain conclusions about the substance of the accusations.

"Whichever party believes that the court's behavior raises serious questions about its nonprecedential nature, it should have expressed its concerns in its usual manner, turning to its ruling in the case itself," Srinivasan wrote.

The Justice Department did not provide comments on this matter, and Reyes declined to comment on the chief judge's decision.

Reyes submitted a previous initial statement from the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chad Mizell, who has since left the department. He asserted that Reyes's behavior "undermines the integrity of the judicial process and demonstrates potential bias."

Mizell cited a specific example where Reyes questioned an attorney: "What, in your opinion, did Jesus say that we should not allow this group of people to serve openly?" The attorney replied that "the United States will not speculate on what Jesus might have said."

Reyes also raised a rhetorical question regarding discrimination. Reyes spoke about changing rules in his court, under which graduates of the law faculty at the University of Virginia cannot appear before him, as all of them are "predetermined."

Reyes was appointed to this position by President Joe Biden. Trump and his allies often criticize the federal judiciary system since the beginning of his second term.

On January 28, Trump signed an order stating that the sexual identity of transgender individuals "endangers the readiness of soldiers" and is detrimental to military readiness. This forced the minister to order Peter Hegseth to issue a new policy.

Six transgender individuals who served in the military and two other applicants seeking to join the army challenged Trump's order. In a brief, Reyes blocked the implementation of the order, stating that, according to him, it likely violates the constitutional rights of the applicants.

Reyes has agreed to postpone its decision to review the appeal, which has not yet been resolved. However, the Supreme Court allowed Trump's administration to ban transgender individuals from serving in the military.

Tags: USA/Politics