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Supreme Court sounds ready to OK laws that ban hormone treatments for trans teens

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Supreme Court sounds ready to OK laws that ban hormone treatments for trans teens

The Supreme Court’s conservatives said Wednesday they are inclined to uphold state laws in half the nation that prohibit the use of hormone treatments for transgender teens.

Led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., they spoke of an evolving medical debate over the use of puberty blockers and sex hormones for adolescents who suffer from gender dysphoria.

Britain recently joined Sweden and Finland in sharply limiting these treatments for adolescents, they said. Roberts said the justices should be wary deciding disputes among medical experts.

“Doesn’t that make a stronger case of us to leave those determinations to the legislative bodies rather than try to determine them for ourselves?” Roberts asked Solicitor Gen. Elizabeth Prelogar as she opened her argument.

“My understanding is that the Constitution leaves that question to
the people’s representatives rather than to nine people, none of whom is a doctor.”

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Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh agreed.

“It just seems to me the Constitution doesn’t take sides on how to resolve this,” he said.

“There is obviously an evolving debate” about the risks and benefits of these medical treatments, he said. “England’s pulling back and Sweden’s pulling back. It strikes me as a pretty heavy yellow light, if not red light, for this court to come in, the nine of us, and to constitutionalize the whole area when the rest of the world is … pumping the brakes on this kind of treatment.”

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Amy Coney Barrett appeared to agree.

Alito chided the Biden administration’s solicitor general for telling the court there was an “overwhelming” medical consensus in favor of prescribing hormones for adolescents with gender dysphoria.

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In response, Prelogar said Britain did not adopt a total ban on such treatments, even if they are now quite limited.

Meanwhile, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, who wrote the court’s 2020 opinion that extended federal antidiscrimination protection to transgender employees, asked no questions during the three-hour argument.

However, the court’s three liberals argued strongly that the conservative state laws discriminate against transgender teens and should be struck down.

“Usually parents get to decide” what is the best medical treatment for their child, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said. “But Tennessee has decided to override them.”

Since 2021, Tennessee and 23 other states have adopted laws that forbid prescribing hormones and puberty blockers for those younger than 18 for the purpose of gender transition.

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In defense of those laws, Tennessee Atty. Gen. Jonathan Skrmetti argued that the practice of medicine is a matter for the state, and lawmakers there said the hormone treatments are risky and unproven for adolescents.

The Biden administration urged the court to hear the Tennessee case and to rule the law discriminatory and unconstitutional.

Prelogar and ACLU attorney Chase Strangio urged the court to rule that because the laws discriminate based on sex and gender, they are suspect and should be struck down.

At a minimum, they said, the court should send the Tennessee case back to a lower court judge to decide whether the state can justify what Prelogar and Strangio called gender-based discrimination.

Strangio said the Tennessee law “has taken away the only treatment that relieved years of suffering for each of the adolescent plaintiffs.”

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A ruling in favor of Tennessee would be a victory for the conservative states, but it would not directly affect California or other Democratic states, which put no similar limits on medical treatments for transgender youths.

However, President-elect Donald Trump campaigned against what he called “left-wing gender insanity.” Upon taking office, he said, he would instruct federal agencies to “cease all programs that promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age.”

It’s also possible that after taking office in January, Trump’s Justice Department appointees could notify the court they would like to drop the government’s appeal in the Tennessee case.

The justices could choose to dismiss the case without ruling, or they could proceed by focusing only on the appeal lodged by the ACLU.

Kavanaugh and Barrett asked about competitive school sports and whether officials may limit participation by transgender girls. But they agreed that question will not be resolved in this case.

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Video: Minnesota and Illinois Sue Trump Administration Over ICE Deployments

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Video: Minnesota and Illinois Sue Trump Administration Over ICE Deployments

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Minnesota and Illinois Sue Trump Administration Over ICE Deployments

Minnesota and Illinois filed federal lawsuits against the Trump administration, claiming that the deployment of immigration agents to the Minneapolis and Chicago areas violated states’ rights.

This is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities and Minnesota, and it must stop. We ask the courts to end the D.H.S. unlawful behavior in our state. The intimidation, the threats, the violence. We ask the courts to end the tactics on our places of worship, our schools, our courts, our marketplaces, our hospitals and even funeral homes.

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Minnesota and Illinois filed federal lawsuits against the Trump administration, claiming that the deployment of immigration agents to the Minneapolis and Chicago areas violated states’ rights.

By Jackeline Luna

January 12, 2026

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Rep Ro Khanna demands prosecution of ICE agent in Minneapolis fatal shooting

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Rep Ro Khanna demands prosecution of ICE agent in Minneapolis fatal shooting

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Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., called for the arrest and prosecution of the ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Good in a residential neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota on Jan. 7.

Khanna also urged Congress to back his legislation with Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, to require ICE agents to wear body cameras, display visible identification, stop wearing masks during operations and be subject to independent oversight.

In a post shared on X, the former Obama administration official said: “I am calling for the arrest and prosecution of the ICE agent that shot and killed Renee Good.”

“I am also calling on Congress to support my bill with @JasmineForUS to force ICE agents to wear body cameras, not wear masks, have visible identification, and ensure ICE has independent oversight,” Khanna added.

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MINNESOTA BUREAU OF CRIMINAL APPREHENSION DROPS OUT OF ICE-INVOLVED SHOOTING INVESTIGATION

An ICE agent shot and killed the 37-year-old Minneapolis woman during a federal enforcement operation in south Minneapolis. Federal officials have said agents were attempting to make arrests when the woman tried to use her vehicle as a weapon against officers, prompting an ICE agent to fire in self-defense.

Good’s death sparked widespread protests in Minneapolis and across the U.S. as demonstrators called for changes to federal immigration enforcement.

Renee Nicole Good moments before she was shot and killed by a federal agent in Minneapolis.  (Obtained by Fox News)

Local officials, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, criticized the federal account of the incident and rejected the claim that the officer acted in self-defense. Minnesota has since sued the Trump administration, claiming the immigration enforcement surge in the state is “unlawful” and “unprecedented.”

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“What we are seeing right now is not normal immigration enforcement,” Frey said. “The scale is wildly disproportionate, and it has nothing to do with keeping people safe.”

The Trump administration pushed back sharply against the lawsuit, with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accusing Minnesota leaders of undermining public safety and obstructing federal law enforcement.

MINNESOTA SUES TRUMP ADMIN OVER SWEEPING IMMIGRATION RAIDS IN TWIN CITIES

Federal officials, including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, maintained that the agent fired in self-defense.

Renee Good’s crashed car after the shooting. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

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Noem critisized Democrats on Sunday amid an Illinois lawmaker’s push to impeach her following the deadly shooting.

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“These law enforcement officers are trained to be in situations that are dangerous, and they rely on that training each and every day to make the right decisions,” Noem said during “Sunday Morning Futures.” 

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

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Democrat-turned-Republican Gloria Romero announces run for lieutenant governor

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Democrat-turned-Republican Gloria Romero announces run for lieutenant governor

Gloria Romero, a former Democrat and state Senate Majority Leader, announced Monday she is running for lieutenant governor as part of a ticket with GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, a former Fox News commentator.

“At the end of the day, it’s really about one-party rule in Sacramento. I’ve seen it. I left it,” Romero said in an interview. “We’ve got to make a change, otherwise we will never turn around on accountability or affordability and fight for working families like the Democrats once said the party stood for. Those days are gone. It’s a new day, and I’m proud to work alongside Steve in this exciting race to make California Golden again.”

Hilton, who has a long-standing political relationship with Romero, said her expertise in the state Capitol is among the reasons he selected her. Romero served in the state Senate and Assembly for about 12 years, including three as the state Senate’s first female majority leader.

“She’s been incredibly helpful already, helping me understand how Sacramento works and doesn’t work,” Hilton said. “When I’m the governor I will have to work with the legislature. And one of the most important things that I see as a real benefit from having Gloria there with me is that she’s not just been in the legislature, she’s led one of the chambers. She really understands how it works and still has relationships.”

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Other candidates running for lieutenant governor include Treasurer Fiona Ma, former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs and Josh Fryday, a member of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s cabinet, all Democrats, and state Sen. Brian Jones (R-Santee).

Romero was a lifelong Democrat, including co-chairing President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign in California. But she began to break with her party over education reform, notably her support for school choice.

“Education is the key to the American dream, and yet my party was so beholden to the teachers union, the alphabet soup of power influencers in Sacramento,” she said.

Invoking the words of the late President Reagan, Romero said she didn’t leave the Democratic party, the party left her. She became a registered Republican in September 2024 after what she calls a “political coup” to oust President Biden as the Democratic nominee. She then endorsed President Trump and spoke at a rally supporting him near Coachella.

She said the lieutenant governor’s role is typically a sleepy perch for politicians as they bide their time to run for higher office.

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“It should not be that way,” Romero said, adding that the lieutenant governor’s role on the boards that oversee the UCs, Cal States and community college is a particularly good fit for her wheelhouse. “Education and turning around education, it’s in my blood, it’s in my dreams. It’s my passion.”

Unlike presidential elections, statewide contests do not feature running mates; each candidate must be elected on their own merits.

Hilton said Romero was the first member of his “golden ticket for California” and that he planned to roll out other statewide candidates who will join their effort.

“I know it hasn’t been done before. It’s not how things are normally done,” he said. “But right from the beginning, when I was thinking about my race for governor, one of the things that I really wanted to do was to put together a strong team, because turning around California is going to take a strong team.”

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