Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby was stripped of her right to vote and speak on the floor by the Speaker after speaking out against males competing against females in sports. Now, after all federal district court judges in Maine recused themselves, her lawsuit against the speaker is being heard by a far-left activist judge in Rhode Island.
Libby, a Republican, was first censured by the Maine House of Representatives in a 75-70 vote for posting an image on social media showing a male athlete stealing first place from his female counterparts in a track and field contest. Maine has a policy that allows males to compete against females in sports, so long as the male claims to be female.
Maine’s policy is currently the subject of a federal investigation, which found the state to be in violation of civil rights law for not protecting females at school. The investigation came after Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, who supports the policy, attempted to confront President Donald Trump at the White House over federal guidance warning states that they could lose funding if they continue violating the civil rights of women and girls in school.
However, after Libby’s censure for opposing the policy, Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau stripped her of her rights to speak on the House floor and vote — completely disenfranchising her constituents. In return Libby and multiple constituents filed suit against Fecteau in federal court.
“Instead of having an open and honest debate about the devastating impacts of Maine girls being forced to compete against biological males, Speaker Fecteau and his Democratic colleagues resorted to canceling and silencing me,” Libby said in a statement upon filing. “Speaker Fecteau and the Democrat majority are risking hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for our schools by stubbornly refusing to address this injustice. I have the constitutional right to speak out and my constituents have the right to full representation in the Maine House. Biological males have no place in girls’ sports. Our girls have every right, under federal law, to fair competition in sports. We will not let them be erased by the Democrat majority advancing a woke progressive agenda.”
In an unprecedented move, every single judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine recused themselves from presiding over the case, citing in a clarification the fact that one parent of the male athlete about whom Libby posted is actually a member of staff at the court.
While the mass recusal could be a reasonable interpretation of ethics rules, Judicial Crisis Network president Carrie Severino told The Federalist, it now means the case is being heard by Rhode Island U.S. District Judge Melissa R. DuBose, who is a far-left activist on LGBT and race issues and has spoken publicly about her ardent support — something well outside the norm for federal judges.
“The judge that this is before in Rhode Island is a true radical,” Severino said. “There’s questions being asked about whether she is capable of being impartial, and then, even if she ends up continuing to hear the case — I think it’s important context as we’re watching this case go through the court to realize this is — this is likely a judge that’s going to already have a thumb on the scale on one side of this issue.”
DuBose was confirmed by the Senate with a 51-47 margin after former President Joe Biden appointed her to the position. Leftist rag CNN bloviated about the appointment, calling it a “meaningful representation” in federal courts because she is apparently the first openly LGBT judge to sit on the Rhode Island District Court.
But her being LGBT is not the root of her perceived impartiality, it is her open activism that is concerning.
As a Rhode Island state District Court judge, DuBose signed a March 21, 2021 letter that appeared to be an attempt by her and her colleagues to bring the 2020 “national racial reckoning” and wholesale discrimination narrative into the judiciary — a body that only functions if it is perceived as impartial.
“This nation’s ‘original sin’ of slavery and its progeny, including racial discrimination and institutional racism, have roots in Rhode Island, and we are committed to confronting it within our judicial system,” the letter reads. “We want to instill confidence in the Black, Latino, Latina, LGBTQ and all under-represented communities that Rhode Island’s courts are their courts, and we will fulfill our constitutional mandate that they receive equal treatment under the law.”
Severino said the letter is disqualifying, telling The Federalist, “This is someone where this is sort of their pet issue that they’ve already gone beyond, in my opinion, the normal legal boundaries and gone out of her way to comment on it, and now she’s sitting on this case.”
“The people who are the ethics mavens are suddenly nowhere to be found,” she said.
However, despite the fact that DuBose and many of her colleagues signed the letter, it actually recognized just how outside the norm it was for any judge to sign such a politically charged and clearly partial letter.
“Traditionally, the Judiciary by way of both custom and judicial canons reserves comment and will not make extra-judicial statements regarding civic engagement,” the letter said. “But, recognizing that this is a moment of inflection for our state and the nation, it is imperative that we lift our voice and reaffirm our commitment to the just and equal treatment of every person who appears before us.”
Left-wing activists expect DuBose to hold the political line on gay and transgender issues, as Lena Zwarensteyn, senior director of the fair courts program at The Leadership Conference, told CNN, saying, “As LGBTQ rights are being subject to litigation across the country, it is increasingly clear that we need judges at all levels of the judiciary who understand what’s at stake and who know that many of these cases are fundamentally about the ability of queer people in America to live authentically and with dignity.”
University of Kansas politics Professor Don Haider-Markel, who wrote a book called Out and Running: Gay and Lesbian Candidates, Elections, and Policy Representation, echoed the expectation that DuBose will be an activist as well.
“We’ve seen these judges do have a pattern of decision-making that differs from the typical white male decision-making we see out of judges,” he said. “We would expect something similar from LGBTQ judges in that their decision-making will look different than the typical cisgender White male.”
During her confirmation hearing, DuBose was also confronted by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., where she was revealed to have gone through a “Marxist phase” after telling Kennedy that she had “never been a Marxist and I am not a Marxist today.”
Breccan F. Thies is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.
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