Arkansas
Supreme Court reinstates rule eliminating ‘X’ option for sex on licenses and IDs
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court on Monday reinstated an agency rule prohibiting residents from using “X” instead of male or female on state-issued driver’s licenses or identification cards.
In a one-page order, justices stayed a lower-court ruling that had blocked the new rule that also made it more difficult for transgender people to change the sex listed on their IDs and licenses. The court did not elaborate for its reasons on staying the decision.
The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said in March that it was rescinding a practice implemented in 2010 that officials say conflicted with state law and had not gone through proper legislative approval. A legislative panel approved an emergency rule implementing the new policy.
The rule change made Arkansas the latest among Republican states taking steps to legally define sex as binary, which critics say is essentially erasing transgender and nonbinary people’s existences and creating uncertainty for intersex people — those born with physical traits that don’t fit typical definitions of male or female.
The American Civil Liberties Union had sued the state on behalf of several transgender, nonbinary and intersex residents challenging the emergency rule. A state judge who blocked the rule earlier this month said it would cause irreparable harm to the residents if implemented.
Arkansas is in the process of adopting a permanent rule to implement the new policy.
Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Jim Hudson said he was grateful for the stay, and the department was immediately reinstating the procedures because of the court’s ruling.
Arkansas was among at least 22 states and the District of Columbia that allowed “X” as an option on licenses and IDs. All previously issued Arkansas licenses and IDs with the “X” designation will remain valid through their existing expiration dates, the department said. Arkansas has more than 2.6 million active driver’s licenses, and 387 of them have the “X” designation. The state has about 503,000 IDs, and 167 with the “X” designation.
The emergency rule will also make it more difficult for transgender people to change the sex listed on their licenses and IDs, which they had been able to do by submitting an amended birth certificate. Arkansas law requires a court order for a person to change the sex listed on their birth certificate.
The DFA has said the previous practice wasn’t supported by state law and hadn’t gone through the required public comment process and legislative review.
Illinois
Chicago City Council member gets two years for corruption
CHICAGO (AP) — Ed Burke, the longest-serving City Council member in Chicago history, was sentenced to two years in prison Monday for squeezing developers who needed his help for permits.
It was far short of the eight-year term recommended by federal prosecutors. With credit for good behavior, Burke will likely spend less than two years in custody.
Burke, 80, was an alderman for 54 years until he left office a year ago and a giant in local Democratic politics. As the longtime chairman of the Finance Committee, he had unrivaled authority at the council over certain city affairs.
Prosecutors said he used that power illegally by strong-arming developers to use his law firm for property tax business while they sought his blessing on projects. Burke was convicted of racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion.
Burke “abused his power and exploited his office for private gain, again and again and again and again and again, over a period of years,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker said in court.
When it was his time to speak, Burke expressed regret for the “pain and the sorrow that I have caused my family and my dear friends.” He had denied wrongdoing when charged in 2019.
Burke’s lawyers argued that his five decades in public life outweighed a long punishment. U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall was inundated with letters supporting him, including one from former Chicago federal prosecutor Dan Webb.
Besides the prison term, Burke was ordered to pay $2 million.
He was first elected to the City Council in 1969. Burke’s wife, Anne, is a former Illinois Supreme Court justice.
New York
County passes transgender athlete ban after court throws out earlier ban
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A county legislature outside New York City has voted to bar transgender female athletes from playing on girls’ and women’s teams at county-owned facilities after a bid to restrict trans athletes by executive order was thrown out in court.
The Republican-controlled Nassau County Legislature voted 12-5 on Monday to bar trans athletes from playing at county-owned facilities unless they compete on teams matching the gender they were assigned at birth or on coed teams.
The move followed Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s Feb. 22 executive order attempting to enact a similar ban.
A judge ruled in May that Blakeman had issued his order “despite there being no corresponding legislative enactment” providing him with such authority. Blakeman is now expected to sign the bill into law.
The New York Times reports that transgender advocates packed Monday’s meeting holding signs that read “trans women are women.”
Republican Legislator John. R. Ferretti Jr. said the bill was not a transgender ban since trans women would still be able to compete, just in men’s or coed leagues.
Blakeman had said his earlier ban was meant to protect girls and women from getting injured while competing against transgender women. It would have affected more than 100 sports facilities in the county on Long Island next to New York City.
Blakeman’s executive order was challenged by state Attorney General Letitia James, who issued a cease and desist letter, and by a women’s roller derby league, the Long Island Roller Rebels, which filed a lawsuit over the ban.
The New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the roller derby league, said after Monday’s vote, “This is a hateful and blatantly illegal bill. If signed into law, we’ll see Nassau in court — again.”
The vote was along party lines with two of the legislature’s seven Democrats absent.
Newsday reports that Democratic Legislator Arnold Drucker said the bill was “in clear contravention of the state law,” adding, “It’s beyond me why this county executive wants to continue squandering taxpayer hard-earned dollars on legal fees defending this law.”
Supreme Court reinstates rule eliminating ‘X’ option for sex on licenses and IDs
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court on Monday reinstated an agency rule prohibiting residents from using “X” instead of male or female on state-issued driver’s licenses or identification cards.
In a one-page order, justices stayed a lower-court ruling that had blocked the new rule that also made it more difficult for transgender people to change the sex listed on their IDs and licenses. The court did not elaborate for its reasons on staying the decision.
The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said in March that it was rescinding a practice implemented in 2010 that officials say conflicted with state law and had not gone through proper legislative approval. A legislative panel approved an emergency rule implementing the new policy.
The rule change made Arkansas the latest among Republican states taking steps to legally define sex as binary, which critics say is essentially erasing transgender and nonbinary people’s existences and creating uncertainty for intersex people — those born with physical traits that don’t fit typical definitions of male or female.
The American Civil Liberties Union had sued the state on behalf of several transgender, nonbinary and intersex residents challenging the emergency rule. A state judge who blocked the rule earlier this month said it would cause irreparable harm to the residents if implemented.
Arkansas is in the process of adopting a permanent rule to implement the new policy.
Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Jim Hudson said he was grateful for the stay, and the department was immediately reinstating the procedures because of the court’s ruling.
Arkansas was among at least 22 states and the District of Columbia that allowed “X” as an option on licenses and IDs. All previously issued Arkansas licenses and IDs with the “X” designation will remain valid through their existing expiration dates, the department said. Arkansas has more than 2.6 million active driver’s licenses, and 387 of them have the “X” designation. The state has about 503,000 IDs, and 167 with the “X” designation.
The emergency rule will also make it more difficult for transgender people to change the sex listed on their licenses and IDs, which they had been able to do by submitting an amended birth certificate. Arkansas law requires a court order for a person to change the sex listed on their birth certificate.
The DFA has said the previous practice wasn’t supported by state law and hadn’t gone through the required public comment process and legislative review.
Illinois
Chicago City Council member gets two years for corruption
CHICAGO (AP) — Ed Burke, the longest-serving City Council member in Chicago history, was sentenced to two years in prison Monday for squeezing developers who needed his help for permits.
It was far short of the eight-year term recommended by federal prosecutors. With credit for good behavior, Burke will likely spend less than two years in custody.
Burke, 80, was an alderman for 54 years until he left office a year ago and a giant in local Democratic politics. As the longtime chairman of the Finance Committee, he had unrivaled authority at the council over certain city affairs.
Prosecutors said he used that power illegally by strong-arming developers to use his law firm for property tax business while they sought his blessing on projects. Burke was convicted of racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion.
Burke “abused his power and exploited his office for private gain, again and again and again and again and again, over a period of years,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker said in court.
When it was his time to speak, Burke expressed regret for the “pain and the sorrow that I have caused my family and my dear friends.” He had denied wrongdoing when charged in 2019.
Burke’s lawyers argued that his five decades in public life outweighed a long punishment. U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall was inundated with letters supporting him, including one from former Chicago federal prosecutor Dan Webb.
Besides the prison term, Burke was ordered to pay $2 million.
He was first elected to the City Council in 1969. Burke’s wife, Anne, is a former Illinois Supreme Court justice.
New York
County passes transgender athlete ban after court throws out earlier ban
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A county legislature outside New York City has voted to bar transgender female athletes from playing on girls’ and women’s teams at county-owned facilities after a bid to restrict trans athletes by executive order was thrown out in court.
The Republican-controlled Nassau County Legislature voted 12-5 on Monday to bar trans athletes from playing at county-owned facilities unless they compete on teams matching the gender they were assigned at birth or on coed teams.
The move followed Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s Feb. 22 executive order attempting to enact a similar ban.
A judge ruled in May that Blakeman had issued his order “despite there being no corresponding legislative enactment” providing him with such authority. Blakeman is now expected to sign the bill into law.
The New York Times reports that transgender advocates packed Monday’s meeting holding signs that read “trans women are women.”
Republican Legislator John. R. Ferretti Jr. said the bill was not a transgender ban since trans women would still be able to compete, just in men’s or coed leagues.
Blakeman had said his earlier ban was meant to protect girls and women from getting injured while competing against transgender women. It would have affected more than 100 sports facilities in the county on Long Island next to New York City.
Blakeman’s executive order was challenged by state Attorney General Letitia James, who issued a cease and desist letter, and by a women’s roller derby league, the Long Island Roller Rebels, which filed a lawsuit over the ban.
The New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the roller derby league, said after Monday’s vote, “This is a hateful and blatantly illegal bill. If signed into law, we’ll see Nassau in court — again.”
The vote was along party lines with two of the legislature’s seven Democrats absent.
Newsday reports that Democratic Legislator Arnold Drucker said the bill was “in clear contravention of the state law,” adding, “It’s beyond me why this county executive wants to continue squandering taxpayer hard-earned dollars on legal fees defending this law.”
