Sports
Maine Democrats respond to SCOTUS appeal over Rep Laurel Libby's censure for trans athlete post
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Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby is seeking U.S. Supreme Court intervention in her lawsuit to overturn her censure for a social media post that identified a minor trans athlete. Now, the Democrat defendants have filed their response to the high court.
The defendants, Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau and House Clerk Robert Hunt, represented by Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, defended the decision to censure Libby for the February post in their response on Thursday afternoon.
“Like other censures of Maine House members, the censure resolution required Rep. Libby to apologize for her conduct—not recant her views. Rep. Libby has steadfastly refused to comply with this modest punishment, which is designed to restore the integrity and reputation of the body,” the response read.
“Her refusal places her in breach of a centuries-old rule of the Maine House, Rule 401(11), that Rep. Libby previously agreed, along with all of her House colleagues, would govern House proceedings. Rule 401(11) provides that a member found by the body to be in breach of its rules may not participate in floor debates or vote on matters before the full House until they have ‘made satisfaction,’ i.e., here, apologized for their breach.”
Libby provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing the response.
“I was elected to represent the people of my district and defend their rights. I spoke up to defend the rights of women and girls—who are being discriminated against and silenced under policies that allow biological males to compete in female sports. For that, I’ve been targeted and punished, not for misconduct, but for refusing to issue a forced apology. The First Amendment protects my right to speak—and just as importantly, my right not to be compelled to say something I do not believe,” she said.
When the Democrat majority in Maine’s House of Representatives voted to censure Libby on Feb. 25, it originally offered to restore her voting and speaking rights if she apologized for the post. But Libby told them she wouldn’t apologize.
Libby previously told Fox News Digital that Fecteau called her the day after she made the social media post, which identified a trans athlete who won a girls’ pole vault competition, on Feb. 18.
“He found it objectionable and asked me to take it down. At the same time, I asked him if he would support Maine girls and support policy that stopped discrimination against Maine young women in sports, and he declined to answer,” Libby said.
“The main criticism all along from the Democrats is that it was a picture of a minor.”
Libby added that no one from the trans athlete’s family or high school reached out to her about the post. She has also argued the athlete was already publicized in other media. The Portland Press Herald published a recap of the event, mentioning the athlete.
MAINE GIRL INVOLVED IN TRANS ATHLETE BATTLE REVEALS HOW STATE’S POLICIES HURT HER CHILDHOOD AND SPORTS CAREER
Libby filed her lawsuit against Fecteau to have the censure overturned on March 11.
But Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose ruled against Libby in her case on April 22. DuBose, appointed by former President Joe Biden in January, ended up presiding over the case after every district judge in Maine refused to take it.
Judges John C. Nivison, John A. Woodcock, Lance E. Walker, Karen F. Wolf, Stacey D. Neumann and Nancy Torresen signed recusal orders shortly after the case was initially filed. No reason was given.
DuBose ended up with the case and ruled in favor of Fecteau. Then the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled against Libby.
So now Libby is seeking U.S. Supreme Court intervention.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department announced a lawsuit against the State of Maine for its continued defiance of Trump’s executive order to keep biological males out of girls’ and women’s sports and for violations of Title IX. Libby attended the press conference alongside Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon.
Two school districts in Maine, Maine’s Regional School Unit No. 24 and MSAD No. 70, have taken matters into their own hands and amended their local sports gender eligibility policies to ban transgender athletes from girls’ competitions, aligning with Libby and Trump.
Attention to the issue was magnified this past week after a trans athlete won multiple events at a girls’ track meet.
A trans-identifying athlete who competed for North Yarmouth Academy in Yarmouth, Maine, in the Poland-NYA-Yarmouth-Seacoast meet, won the 1600-meter race with a time of 5:57.27, blowing away the second-place runner who finished with a time of 6:16.32. In the 800-meter event, the trans athlete had a closer first-place finish with a time of 2:43.31, just around a second better than the second-place finisher with a time of 2:44.87.
A survey by the American Parents Coalition found that out of about 600 registered Maine voters, 63% said school sports participation should be based on biological sex, and 66% agreed it is “only fair to restrict women’s sports to biological women.”
The poll also found that 60% of residents would support a ballot measure limiting participation in women’s and girls’ sports to biological females. This included 64% of independents and 66% of parents with kids under age 18.
Fox News’ Shannon Bream and William Mears contributed to this report.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Sports
‘Demon’ Finn Balor settles score with Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42
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LAS VEGAS – Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio were once brothers in arms in the Judgment Day. The two helped the faction run “Monday Night Raw” for several years.
As championships and opportunities came and went, the rift between Balor and Mysterio grew. It came to a head when Balor caused Mysterio to lose the Intercontinental Championship to Penta. Balor leaving the Judgment Day left Mysterio and Liv Morgan as the leaders with JD McDonagh, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez sticking around.
Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The latter four chose to ride with Mysterio and attacked Balor on one episode of Raw.
The bitter war led to a match Sunday night at WrestleMania 42. To make matters more interesting, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce made the match a street fight hours before the show was set to begin.
Balor had vowed to bring the “Demon” out and he certainly did.
JACOB FATU PUTS DREW MCINTYRE IN THE ‘REAR VIEW’ IN UNSANCTIONED MATCH AT WRESTLEMANIA 42
Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Balor made his way to the ring in his “Demon” gear, dripping with red and black paint. Mysterio was in a mask with other Mysterio supporters.
The two then proceeded to beat the crud out of each other.
Mysterio wrapped Balor’s head in between a chair and hit a 619 on him. He tried to pin Balor, but to no avail. At another point, Mysterio tossed Balor through a table set up in the corner.
As many have learned, it’s hard to keep your demons down. Mysterio learned the hard way.
Balor would not give up. Balor clotheslined Mysterio, hit him with a chair multiple times before wrapping his head in between the chair and drop-kicking him into the corner. Balor put Mysterio onto a table and hit the Coup de Grâce for the win.
Dominik Mysterio is introduced before his match against Finn Balor during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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Balor excised his own demons, while Mysterio is still haunted.
Sports
Ryan Ward has a solid debut, but bullpen blows it again as Dodgers lose to Rockies
DENVER — What do you know? The once-stampeding Dodgers have been caged by the Colorado Rockies.
With a 9-6 loss Sunday at Coors Field, the two-time defending World Series champions lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Dodgers again couldn’t hold a lead, letting the Rockies tee off for 15 hits.
Nor could the Dodgers keep up offensively at the hitter-friendly park — though they put some pressure on in the ninth inning, when Shohei Ohtani led off with a ground-rule double and the Dodgers scored twice to cut the lead to three runs. Then the new guy, Ryan Ward, made the final out in his big league debut, robbed of a hit and a chance to keep chipping away by a diving Troy Johnston in right field.
Before that, the Rockies — who beat the Dodgers twice in 13 meetings all of last season — chased starter Roki Sasaki from the game in the fifth inning and then ruffled the Dodgers’ relievers. That included closer Edwin Díaz, who came on in the eighth and promptly gave up three singles, a walk and two runs before being pulled with the Dodgers trailing 8-4.
Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki gave up three runs on seven hits in 4-2/3 innings Sunday against the Rockies in Denver.
(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
He and Blake Treinen combined to face eight batters without getting an out.
“They both weren’t sharp,” said manager Dave Roberts, who had theories but not many answers — though he did have real concern, especially about Díaz, who recently had his right knee checked out by the medical staff.
Roberts said the closer wanted to pitch after nine days off, even though it wasn’t a save situation. But his velocity was slightly down (95.4 mph vs. 95.8) and so, “today was a tough evaluation,” the manager said.
“It really was,” Roberts said. “Because, you know, I know what it’s supposed to look like, and when it doesn’t look like that, it gets a little concerning, really.”
And losing for the second time to the Rockies, who are now 9-13? Being in danger of losing their four-game series, after arriving in Denver without having lost to a National League opponent, against a club that hasn’t made the postseason since 2018?
It’s well below the bar the Dodgers have set, and it added a bitter note to Ward’s otherwise sweet debut.
Ward punched a big league clock for the first time wearing No. 67 and cranked his first hit off Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen in the fourth inning, lining a changeup to right field for a single that scored Andy Pages, made it 3-0 and got the 20-some members of Ward’s party up, jumping in place, hugging and high-fiving.
“When I was on first base, I got to see them all jumping around up there,” Ward said. “That was a pretty special moment.”
He also singled in the sixth and swung on the first pitch in his first at-bat, a fly out in the third inning.
The Dodgers gave Sasaki a 2-0 lead in the third. Alex Freeland drove in Hyeseong Kim, and Shohei Ohtani doubled in Freeland — and extended his career-best on-base streak to 51 games, moving past Willie Keeler into third place in Dodgers history.
Sasaki went 4-2/3 innings, threw 78 pitches and gave up three runs on seven hits, striking out two and walking two. His ERA after his fourth start: 6.11, worst in the six-man rotation.
The Dodgers fell behind 6-5 in the seventh when Treinen — who was cleared Friday after he was struck in the head by a batted ball during batting practice — gave up four consecutive hits, including a two-run home run by Mickey Moniak.
The result likely will be a minor detail when Ward tells the story years from now about getting the call after first baseman Freddie Freeman was placed on the paternity list.
The Dodgers’ No. 19 prospect and reigning Pacific Coast League MVP spent the last seven years in the minors. Last season, he hit 36 home runs and drove in 122 runs with a .937 on-base-plus-slugging percentage for triple-A Oklahoma City, and he has a 1.020 OPS and four homers this year.
Ward made it a point to improve his chase rate, draw more walks and get on base more frequently, everything the Dodgers asked of him. He also passed the broadest patience test.
“The plate discipline, being a better hitter … he’s done all that,” Roberts said. “He’s improved his defense. But honestly, for me, just not to let his lack of opportunity in the big leagues deter him. That’s easy when you get frustrated and let it affect performance, and he hasn’t done that.”
If anything, Ward said, the waiting made him better.
“I used it to keep going. ‘OK, if I’m not there yet, what do I have to do to get there?’” he said. “‘What part of my game do I need to work on to keep getting better?’
“I used it as fire to keep working.”
That will be the Dodgers’ assignment too.
In the finale of the four-game series Monday, the Dodgers are expected to start left-hander Justin Wrobleski (2-0, 2.12) against Colorado left-hander Jose Quintana (0-1, 5.63).
Sports
ESPN’s Stephen A Smith hears boos from WrestleMania 42 crowd
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LAS VEGAS – Danhausen’s curse may be real after all – just ask Stephen A. Smith and the New York Mets.
While the latter dropped their 10th game in a row, Smith got his share of the curse on Saturday night during Night 1 of WrestleMania 42. Smith was in attendance for WWE’s premier event of the year and heard massive boos from the crowd.
Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)
Smith was sitting ringside to watch the action. The ESPN star appeared on the videoboard above the ring at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. He appeared to embrace the reaction and smiled through it.
The boos came after Danhausen appeared on “First Take” on Friday – much to the chagrin of the sports pundit. Smith appeared perplexed by Danhausen’s appearance. Smith said he heard about Danhausen and called him a “bad luck charm.”
Danhausen said Smith had been “rude” to him and put the dreaded “curse” on the commentator.
WWE STAR DANHAUSEN SAYS METS ‘CURSE’ ISN’T EXACTLY LIFTED AS TEAM DROPS NINTH STRAIGHT GAME
Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)
Smith is far from the only one dealing with the effects of the “curse.”
Danhausen agreed to “un-curse” the Mets during their losing streak. However, he told Fox News Digital earlier this week that there was a reason why the curse’s removal didn’t take full effect.
“I did un-curse the Mets. But it didn’t work because, I believe it was Brian Gewirtz who did not pay Danhausen. He did not send me my money so it did not take full effect,” Danhausen said. “Once I have the money, perhaps it will actually work because right now it’s probably about a half of an un-cursing. It’s like a layaway situation.”
Danhausen enters the arena before his match against Kit Wilson during SmackDown at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 10, 2026. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
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On “Friday Night SmackDown,” WWE stars like The Miz and Kit Wilson were also targets of Danhausen’s curse.
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