Federal court blocks Idaho law criminalizing restroom use by transgender people

A federal judge has blocked Idaho's transgender bathroom ban before it can take effect, ruling that key provisions of the law are likely unconstitutional and questioning whether police could realistically enforce it without arbitrary or discriminatory action.In a 30-page decision issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Amanda K. Brailsford granted a preliminary injunction against House Bill 752, one of the nation's strictest bathroom restrictions targeting transgender people. The judge also provisionally certified a statewide class of transgender Idahoans, extending the ruling's protections beyond the handful of plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit.The decision marks a significant setback for Idaho officials and anti-LGBTQ+ activists who championed the measure as a way to protect women and children in public restrooms. Instead, the court concluded that the law's enforcement mechanisms are so unclear as to likely violate the Constitution's due process guarantee.Related: Trans man forced to leave Idaho to use public bathrooms joins lawsuit against state"Different officers could reasonably reach different conclusions regarding identical conduct, not because the facts differ, but because the statute furnishes no standards by which those facts are to be evaluated," Brailsford wrote.The lawsuit was filed by transgender Idahoans represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Idaho, and Lambda Legal.The ACLU called the ruling "a win for trans rights" in a post on Bluesky.“Our Constitution provides critical protections against laws that are unclear and that call on officers to make arbitrary judgments about how to enforce them, especially when the law threatens imprisonment,” Kell Olson, counsel with Lambda Legal, said in a statement. “The court recognized that threat in providing relief to plaintiffs today. This ruling will allow transgender people throughout Idaho to find and use a public restroom, without the fear of arrest looming over them, while we cont