Federal judge issues injunction blocking Idaho restroom law

A federal judge has temporarily blocked Idaho from enforcing a new law that would have criminalized the use of public restrooms and changing facilities that do not align with a person's sex assigned at birth. U.S. District Judge Amanda Brailsford issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday, June 16, preventing House Bill 752 from taking effect as scheduled on July 1.

The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed in April by six transgender Idaho residents, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal. The plaintiffs argued the law was unconstitutionally vague and violated their rights to due process and equal protection. Judge Brailsford provisionally certified a class of transgender Idaho residents, extending the injunction's protections statewide beyond the original plaintiffs.

The law, signed by Governor Brad Little in March, would have made it a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail, for a person to knowingly use a restroom or changing facility in a government building or place of public accommodation that did not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. A second offense within five years could have been prosecuted as a felony carrying a...