Who will represent Idaho before the U.S. Supreme Court in trans athlete case?
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Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman
BOISE (Idaho Statesman) – The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in another case involving Idaho.
The case, Bradley Little, et al. v. Lindsay Hecox, et al., centers on a challenge to a state law barring transgender women and girls from participating in sports that align with their gender identity. Gov. Brad Little signed the bill into law in 2020, and shortly after, a transgender woman at Boise State University sued.
The Supreme Court agreed last year to hear oral arguments in the case. The court will hear a similar case the same day over a West Virginia law targeting trans athletes.
Who will be presenting the arguments?
Alan Hurst, the state’s solicitor general, will present arguments on behalf of the state.
Hurst was appointed to the position in January 2024, according to a press release at the time. The solicitor general serves as the state’s “premier litigation team,” providing litigation advice to the attorney general’s office and overseeing appellate work, the press release said.
“Idaho is helping define the law in ways that matter to people in this state and across our nation,” Hurst said in the release.
Hurst previously clerked for the Utah Supreme Court and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and taught at Brigham Young University. He declined an interview with the Statesman.
Kathleen Hartnett of Cooley LLP, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit, will present arguments on behalf of Hecox, the American Civil Liberties Union told the Statesman.
According to her bio on Cooley’s website, Hartnett serves as a trial and appellate advocate and has done work on a variety of issues including LGBTQ+ equality, civil rights and criminal justice. She previously served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice’s civil division under former President Barack Obama’s administration.
Idaho’s most recent case at the high court was heard in April 2024, concerning the state’s abortion ban. Joshua Turner, who was Idaho’s chief of constitutional litigation and policy, represented the state in front of the Supreme Court.