Supreme Court rules Maine House must temporarily return voting power to censured state lawmaker

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Maine's state House to temporarily restore voting power to a Republican state lawmaker who was censured for criticizing transgender athletes’ participation in girls’ sports.

The approved order for the emergency application was not signed by a specific justice. It is not clear what the final vote count was either, but Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented and Justice Sonia Sotomayor said she would have denied the request, the New York Times reported. 

The order restores voting rights to GOP Maine Rep. Laurel Libby, who was censured in a party-line vote for refusing House Speaker Ryan Fecteau's demand to remove before-and-after photos of a transgender student athlete who won fifth place in a male pole-vaulting competition two years ago, and first place in a female competition this year. 

Libby sued the state House in March, but her request for a temporary pause in the punishment was rejected by a federal judge. She filed an emergency application to the Supreme Court last month. 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.