Southeast
'Overwhelming evidence' of negative consequences from gender 'treatments' focus of landmark Supreme Court case
The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in a high-profile case regarding whether states can ban minors from receiving gender transition medical care under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, a closely-watched case that could impact the care and treatment for young people in at least half of U.S. states.
Conservative justices on the Supreme Court appeared reluctant during Wednesday’s oral arguments to overturn Senate Bill 1, the Tennessee law in question, with Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggesting that state legislatures, rather than courts, are best equipped to regulate medical procedures. The Constitution leaves such questions “to the people’s representatives,” Roberts noted Wednesday, rather than to nine justices on the Supreme Court, “none of whom is a doctor.”
Justice Samuel Alito, for his part, cited “overwhelming evidence” from certain medical studies listing the negative consequences from adolescents that underwent gender transition treatments. Should the justices rule along party lines to uphold the lower court’s decision, it will have sweeping implications for more than 20 U.S. states that have moved to implement similar laws.
The case in question, United States v. Skrmetti, centers on a Tennessee law that bans gender-transition treatments for minors in the state. The law, passed in March 2023, also takes aim at health care providers in Tennessee who continue to provide gender-transition treatments to transgender minors, opening them up to fines, lawsuits and other liability.
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A student leads a group of demonstrators in Knoxville, Tennessee, in protest of the state’s 2022 transgender athlete ban. (Saul Young/Knoxville News-Sentinel /USA Today)
At issue in the case is whether Tennessee’s Senate Bill 1, which “prohibits all medical treatments intended to allow ‘a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex’ or to treat ‘purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor’s sex and asserted identity,’” violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Wednesday’s oral arguments marked the first time the Supreme Court considered restrictions on puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery for minors. However, it also comes as many other states have moved to ban or restrict medical treatments and procedures for transgender adolescents, placing outsize focus on the case and on oral arguments Wednesday, as observers closely watched the back-and-forth for clues as to how the court might rule.
Petitioners in the case were represented by the Biden administration and the ACLU, which sued to overturn the Tennessee law on behalf of the parents of three transgender adolescents and a Memphis-based doctor.
At issue during Wednesday’s oral arguments was the level of scrutiny that courts should use to evaluate the constitutionality of state bans on transgender medical treatment for minors, such as SB1, and whether these laws are considered discriminating on the basis of sex or against a “quasi-suspect class,” thus warranting a higher level of scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.
Both sides continued to battle over the level of scrutiny that the court should apply in reviewing laws involving transgender care for minors, including SB1.
Petitioners argued that the court should use the test of heightened scrutiny, which requires states to identify an important objective that the law helps accomplish, while the state of Tennessee reiterated its claim that the rational basis test, or the most deferential test that was applied by the 6th Circuit Court in reviewing SB1, is sufficient.
Petitioners, represented by U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, argued that SB1 discriminates against individuals on the basis of sex, which itself warrants a heightened level of scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause. They argued that SB1 “categorically bans treatment when, and only when, it’s consistent with the patient’s birth sex.”
In Tennessee, petitioners argued, the way that the sex-based classification works is that, “from the standpoint of any individual who wants to take these medications, their sex determines whether SB1 applies.”
Prelogar cited one of the unnamed petitioners in the case, whom she referred to only as John Doe. Doe “wants to take puberty blockers to undergo a typical male puberty. But SB1 says that because John sex at birth was female, he can’t have access to those medications,” Prelogar argued. “And if you change his sex, then the restriction under SB1 lifts, and it changes the result.”
Petitioners also sought to assuage concerns raised by justices about the ability of states to pass legislation protecting minors, so long as the test meets a higher standard of scrutiny.
Pressed by Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the impact the ruling could have on other states, Prelogar responded by noting that the court could write a very narrow opinion that states only that when a law prohibits conduct that is “inconsistent with sex, that is a sex baseline, so you do have to apply heightened scrutiny.”
“But the court has made clear that that’s an intermediate standard,” Prelogar said. “And if the state can come forward with an important interest and substantiate that it needed to draw those sex baselines to substantially serve the interest,” it would still be permitted.
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The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Respondents for the state of Tennessee argued Wednesday that SB1 was designed to protect minors from what they described as “risky and unproven medical interventions.”
The state, represented by Tennessee Solicitor General Matthew Rice, argued that SB1 draws a “purpose-based line, not a sex-based line,” thus failing to meet the necessary requirement to trigger heightened scrutiny.
The law, Rice said, turns “entirely on medical purposes, not a patient’s sex.” The only way petitioners can point to a sex-based line, he argued, “is to equate fundamentally different medical treatments.”
“Giving testosterone to a boy with a deficiency is not the same treatment as giving it to a girl who has psychological distress associated with her body,” Rice said.
Still, respondents faced tough questioning from justices on the classification and application of SB1.
On issues of classification, Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson cited parallels to the race-based case of Loving v. Virginia, which overturned Virginia’s law forbidding marriage between persons of different racial categories; in that case, a White man and a Black woman.
A flag supporting LGBTQ+ rights decorates a desk on the Democratic side of the Kansas House of Representatives during a debate on March 28, 2023 at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kansas. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider whether a Tennessee ban on gender transition care for minors is constitutional. (AP Photo/John Hanna, File)
She noted that under SB1, an individual can be prescribed puberty blockers or hormone treatments if doing so is consistent with their sex, but not if it is inconsistent, asking Rice, “So how are they different?”
Justice Elena Kagan asked Rice about the application of SB1, noting the text of SB1 and one of its articulated purposes, which is to “encourag[e] minors to appreciate their sex and to ban treatments ‘that might encourage minors to become disdainful of their sex.’”
“You’re spending a lot of time talking about what the classification is here,” Kagan told Rice. “And I think we’ve talked a good deal about that. But what produced this classification might be relevant to understanding what the classification is about.”
Tennessee has argued that its law can still withstand even the test of heightened scrutiny, contending in its court brief that it does have “compelling interests” to protect the health and safety of minors in the state and “in protecting the integrity and ethics of the medical profession.”
The controversial case comes at a time in Washington when Republicans are set to take control of the White House, hold the House and regain the Senate, giving them a greater influence on the composition of the federal courts.
The court is expected to rule on U.S. v. Skrmetti before July 2025.
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A Florida mother killed her two children inside their upscale Lakewood Ranch home before taking her own life in what authorities ruled was a double homicide-suicide.
Deputies with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a welfare check at the home and discovered three people dead inside. Detectives with the Manatee Homicide Investigation Unit later concluded the children were killed by their mother before she took her own life.
Authorities said there is no evidence anyone else was involved, and there is no threat to the community.
The victims were identified by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune as Monika Rubacha, 44, and her children, Josh James, 14, and Emma James, 11.
Vehicles from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office arrive in the Lakewood Ranch neighborhood as investigators probe a double homicide-suicide involving a mother and her two children. (Manatee County Sheriff’s Office)
Officials described encountering what appeared to be a “violent murder scene” when deputies entered the home.
The case remains active as detectives continue reviewing evidence. The medical examiner will determine the official cause and manner of the deaths.
According to the Herald-Tribune, Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Randy Warren said preliminary findings suggest Josh James may have died earlier than his sister and mother as investigators work to establish a precise timeline.
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Monika Rubacha with her children, Josh James, 14, and Emma James, 11, in a family photo. Authorities say Rubacha killed her two children inside their Lakewood Ranch, Fla., home before taking her own life. (Monika Karina Rubacha/ Facebook)
The outlet also reported that authorities believe there was some level of planning involved and that the mother “knew what she was doing,” citing Warren.
“This is unimaginable that two children were killed inside their home by a parent, and then she took her own life,” Warren told FOX 13.
Warren also told the station that deputies had never previously responded to the home since the family moved there from Missouri about three years ago.
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Crime scene tape surrounds the upscale Lakewood Ranch home where authorities say Monika Rubacha killed her children, Josh James and Emma James, before taking her own life. (Manatee County Sheriff’s Office)
“There’s really nothing there that would have indicated this would have happened,” said Warren.
The children’s father was traveling in South America at the time of the killings and returned to Florida after being notified, authorities said, calling it “an incredible emotional day for him,” according to FOX 13.
Neighbors described shock rippling through the gated community.
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“It’s a total surprise and shock. This neighborhood is so quiet,” Paul Henne, a resident of The Lake Club, told FOX 13.
“It’s a family community with small kids. It really hits you hard when you hear about that stuff happening.”
The Lake Club at Lakewood Ranch, the gated community where the family lived, said in a statement to FOX 13 it is aware of the tragedy and that its “hearts are with the family and all those affected during this incredibly difficult time.”
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A motive has not been released.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
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Southeast
In divided North Carolina, Whatley and Cooper emerge for Senate battle that could tip Washington
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Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley and former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper have secured the Republican and Democratic nominations respectively to succeed retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
Whatley, of Boone, and Cooper, of Nashville, were heavily favored to win their contests in a state that has been tough for Republicans at the gubernatorial level and for Democrats at the presidential level.
Cooper faced businessman Daryl Farrow and technology sector consultant Justin Dues — both prior candidates for U.S. House — along with Pastor Orrick Quick and several perennial candidates.
Republican Michael Whatley, left; Democrat Roy Cooper, right. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images; Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images) (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images; Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Whatley faced retired Navy JAG officer Don Brown, who previously ran for Congress against Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C. Another major GOP candidate was former Wake County school board candidate Michele Morrow.
Immigration has been a key issue in the race, as Whatley has hammered Cooper for repeatedly vetoing bills from Raleigh’s state legislative Republican majority that would have compelled local cooperation with ICE.
“If Roy Cooper had not vetoed legislation that would have forced sheriffs to honor the ICE detainers, then these people would not have been on the street,” Whatley said.
ICE, along with Tarheel State-native Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, captured at least 120 illegal immigrants in Charlotte and the Triangle during operations last year.
“It’s unfortunate that the Trump administration has to go into a city like Charlotte and help to clean up the city. It would be great if the state and the local officials were to be as concerned for their citizens as they were for the illegal immigration advocates that they’re pushing,” Whatley added at the time.
Cooper vetoed at least three bills during his eight-year tenure dealing with ICE cooperation that were drafted by the GOP-majority legislature.
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In August 2019, Cooper vetoed a bill from current House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Lenoir, that would have required sheriffs to honor ICE detainers and hold suspects until they could be transferred to the feds.
Cooper reportedly said the bill was trying to use “fear to divide North Carolina,” but the effort eventually succeeded as part of a package expanding private-school vouchers.
Cooper has pushed back, with a spokesman telling Fox News Digital that sheriffs in Wake, Mecklenburg and Durham counties all opposed Republicans’ legislation – and backed his own move to veto them. Eight other sheriffs backed Cooper’s veto.
“Roy Cooper is the only candidate who spent his career prosecuting violent criminals and keeping thousands of them behind bars, and numerous North Carolina sheriffs spoke out against this legislation at the time because of a lack of resources; a problem that Washington, D.C. insider and Big Oil lobbyist Michael Whatley has made worse because of his support for cuts to local law enforcement,” the spokesman said.
The race sets up a high-stakes fall general election, where Whatley hopes to maintain Republicans’ grip on the seat, and a Cooper win could throw the Senate’s Republican majority into jeopardy.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) departs from a luncheon with Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol Building on June 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Senate is expected to take up The Fiscal Responsibility Act, legislation negotiated between the White House and House Republicans to raise the debt ceiling until 2025 and avoid a federal default. The House passed the bill last night with a bipartisan vote of 314-117. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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The last time a Democrat held a North Carolina U.S. Senate seat was from 2009–2015 with Sen. Kay Hagan, whom Tillis eventually defeated.
Before that, scandal-plagued vice presidential candidate John Edwards split the state’s representation with Republican Elizabeth Dole, the wife of 1996 GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole.
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Southeast
Timeline tracks diplomat’s path from college overachiever to alleged highway ‘road rage’ mass stabber
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The diplomat accused of fatally stabbing one person and injuring three others in a Sunday highway “road rage incident” once graduated with academic honors and built a career that took him to the U.S. State Department.
Jared Llamado, 32, fatally stabbed Michele Adams, 39, and injured Dana Bonnell, 36, Mary C. Flood, 37, and Heather Miller, 40, according to Virginia State Police. Llamado also stabbed his own dog to death, authorities said. The incident happened on I-495 southbound at 1:17 p.m. in Fairfax County, about 30 minutes from Washington, D.C.
Officials said the stabbings did not appear to be targeted, and none of the victims besides the dog were in Llamado’s car at the time. Llamado, who was armed with a knife, was shot by a state trooper in self-defense and died at a local hospital, authorities said. The trooper wasn’t injured.
“A Virginia State Police trooper was called to the scene at approximately 1:17 p.m. for a reported road rage incident. When the trooper arrived on scene, he was confronted by a male suspect carrying a knife,” Virginia State Police wrote in a news release. “The trooper then shot the suspect in self-defense. The suspect, Jared Llamado, 32, of McLean, Va., was transported to the hospital with serious injuries. Llamado later succumbed to those injuries. The trooper was not injured.”
Officials said Jared Llamado also killed his dog. (Facebook/Jared Llamado)
Police respond to a stabbing on I-495 at Little River Turnpike on March 1, 2026. (WTTG)
The U.S. Department of State confirmed Llamado was a foreign service officer with the agency.
“We are aware of the tragic incident that involved a Foreign Service Officer and occurred on Sunday, March 1, in Fairfax County, Virginia,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. “We extend our deepest condolences to all those affected by this tragedy.”
On Feb. 22, Llamado posted a picture with several friends on social media, appearing to be happy and upbeat.
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Jared Llamado was a foreign service officer with the U.S. State Department, according to an agency spokesperson. (Facebook/Jared Llamado)
“Dinner with my long time friends and coworkers!” Llamado wrote, in what would be his last Facebook post.
Here’s a timeline of Llamado’s work and education history leading up to the stabbing incident, according to his LinkedIn and social media:
2011 – Began studying at George Mason University:
In 2011, Llamado began studying at George Mason University to earn a degree in applied information technology.
2015 – Graduated from George Mason University:
In 2015, Llamado graduated from George Mason University with a degree in applied information technology. Llamado said on LinkedIn that he graduated with a 3.76 grade point average, which landed him on the dean’s list for seven of his eight semesters. He also said he graduated magna cum laude.
July 2015 to June 2018 – Employed as a network engineer at OSIbeyond
Officials said Jared Llamado killed one person and injured three others. (Instagram/jared.llamado)
June 2018 to June 2020 – Employed as an IT Network Engineer at ECC IT Solutions, LLC
June 2020 to October 2021 – Employed as a senior solutions engineer at R3 LLC
November 2021 to July 2024 – Employed as a senior network engineer at LMS Technical Services
September 2024 to March 2026 – Employed as a diplomatic technology officer at the U.S. Department of State:
While working at the Department of State, Llamado said he was living in Copenhagen, Denmark, but appeared to be back in the United States recently.
March 1: Police say Llamado went on a stabbing spree in a “road rage incident”:
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Authorities identified Jared Llamado, 32, of McLean, as the suspect in a stabbing following a crash on Interstate 495 in Fairfax County, Virginia. (Jared Llamado McLean Facebook)
According to dispatch audio obtained by Fox News Digital, the stabbing incident “started out as a property damage crash,” then the suspect began “stabbing people with a knife.”
The dispatch operator said that there were “multiple victims in the roadway.”
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