SCOTUS Majority in US v. Skrmetti Emphasizes Democratic Rule

The Committee For Justice on today’s 6-3 decision in United States v. Skrmetti, upholding a Tennessee law that bans the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender teens:

As Democrats try to frighten us about threats to democracy, they should consider that it is the GOP appointees on the Supreme Court who emphasized the importance of democratic rule in the majority opinion and concurrences of today’s transgender therapy decision.

Roberts for majority: “Our role is not to judge the wisdom, fairness, or logic of the law before us, but only to ensure that it does not violate the equal protection guarantee … Having concluded it does not, we leave questions regarding its policy to the people, their elected representatives, and the democratic process.”

Thomas concurring: “[T]his case serves as a useful reminder that the American people and their representatives are entitled to disagree with those who hold themselves out as experts, and that courts may not sit as a super-legislature to weigh the wisdom of legislation … That sovereign prerogative does not bow to … experts and elites.”

Barrett concurring: “[H]olding that transgender people constitute a suspect class would require courts to oversee all manner of policy choices normally committed to legislative discretion … [T]ransgender status implicates several other areas of legitimate regulatory policy—ranging from access to restrooms to eligibility for boys’ and girls’ sports teams. If laws that classify based on transgender status necessarily trigger heightened scrutiny, then the courts will inevitably be in the business of closely scrutinizing legislative choices in all these domains.”