First & Fourteenth Wins at SCOTUS!
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted review in Roybal v. Griffith and vacated a Tenth Circuit ruling that would have significantly limited correctional officers’ ability to make security-driven decisions when housing transgender inmates.
The case involved a biological male identifying as female who sought to be housed with female inmates and strip-searched by female officers. A Colorado district court dismissed the inmate’s constitutional claims, but the Tenth Circuit reversed in a 2-1 decision and introduced several new constitutional rules.
First & Fourteenth’s petition argued that sex-based classifications in a carceral setting are subject to rational-basis review and that the Fourth Amendment does not impose categorical bans on cross-identified-gender searches. The Solicitor General of the United States agreed with First & Fourteenth and filed a brief urging the Supreme Court to grant the petition and vacate the Tenth Circuit’s ruling.
The GVR means the case returns to the Tenth Circuit to reconsider its decision in light of West Virginia v. B.P.J. and United States v. Skrmetti.
The First & Fourteenth appellate team included partners Julian Ellis, Laura Ellis, Michael Francisco, and Chris Murray.
