Attorneys General from 19 states and the District of Columbia have jointly submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the class-action case titled Hunter v U.S. Department of Education. Led by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, the coalition bases its filing on their interpretation of Title IX, a law preventing sex discrimination in federally funded schools.
The central argument of the brief is that a 2020 rule change altering how the government interprets Title IX is invalid. The Attorneys General are supporting students who are opposing the implementation of a religious exemption for specific sections of the law.
The initial enactment of Title IX included a narrow exemption for schools controlled by religious institutions with conflicting tenets. However, during the Trump administration, the Department of Education expanded this exemption through administrative rulemaking.
The Attorneys General assert that students should know if their school claims a religious exemption before potential incidents occur. The brief highlights that students shouldn’t have to wait until they experience discrimination to learn about their school’s stance.
The Attorneys General’s amicus brief represents a range of states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.
