SCOTUS to hear transgender athlete cases Tuesday

By Andrew Rice | The Center Square | 12 Jan 2026

(The Center Square) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments in two cases on whether biological men can compete in women’s and girls sports.

The cases, Little v. Hecox and B.P.J. v. West Virginia, challenged state laws in Idaho and West Virginia, respectively, that bar transgender individuals from competing in girls and women’s sports.

In April 2021, West Virginia passed the Save Women’s Sports Act, which bars transgender individuals from participating in girls and women’s sports in public secondary schools and colleges.

B.P.J., a 15-year-old student who has identified as transgender since the third grade, said the law violated sex discrimination rules laid out in Title IX and questioned whether the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause prevented states from offering separate sports teams based on biological sex.

The law was then blocked from going into effect by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Lawyers for the state argued the West Virginia law aligned with Title IX and prevents unnecessary barriers to sports participation in the future.

“If a school official determines that a male student has a sufficient female identity, that could be enough to participate on the girls’ team under the Fourth Circuit’s ruling – no matter the male student’s appearance or athletic performance,” lawyers for the state warned in a brief to the Supreme Court.

Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network, told The Center Square there is no constitutional basis for biological men to participate in women’s sports. She said state legislators and voters should be able to decide whether they want to allow transgender individuals to compete.

“Whatever you think of the wisdom of allowing biological men to play in women’s sports, they don’t have a constitutional argument for why they need to play in women’s sports,” Severino said. “That’s just never been historically part of our Constitution.”

In 2020, Idaho enacted the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which imposes a ban on participation of transgender women and girls on public school sports teams from elementary school through college. In Idaho, Lindsay Hecox, a transgender woman, filed a lawsuit after attempting to join the Boise State University track and cross country team.

Similarly to B.P.J., Hecox argued the state ban violated Title IX protections and the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause under the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked Idaho’s law from going into effect, allowing Hecox to participate in sports at Boise State University. Lawyers for Hecox said the case is meant to focus on one situation, rather than apply to all transgender athlete participation across the country.

“Petitioners seek to create a false sense of national emergency when nothing of the sort is presented in this case,” lawyers for Hecox wrote in a brief to the court.

Lawyers for Hecox also said the National College Athletics Association allowed transgender individuals to participate in women’s sports so long as they suppressed testosterone for one year.

“H.B. 500 was passed specifically to exclude girls and women who are transgender from girls’ and women's teams,” lawyers for Hecox wrote.

Idaho Gov. Bradley Little, in a brief to the court, defended the state’s law as an enforcement measure to protect women and girls from safety hazards and unfair competition standards. He cited examples in Idaho of women's sports teams that refused to participate in competition against transgender athletes for fear of injury.

While the injunction only applies to Hecox, Little said it prevents other states from enacting similar legislation because the ninth circuit defines “sex” using subjective tests.

“These holdings stop Idaho from enforcing its law and thwart similar laws passed to protect women’s sports in Alaska, Arizona, and Montana,” lawyers for Little wrote in a brief to the court.

As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear both cases on Tuesday, Severino said she is hopeful for an outcome that upholds both Idaho's and West Virginia's laws. She said the abundance of justices on the court who prescribe to originalist legal theories will affect the court’s decision.

“There’s just no way to use an originalist analysis and get to the point where you can say states must force their public schools to allow boys in girls sports,” Severino said.

Photo: Sarah Roderick-Fitch / The Center Square

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Radio Host Resigns After Calling for the Assassination of Vice President JD Vance

Townhall 

A volunteer radio show host on WUML, which is funded by the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, has resigned after posting on the left-wing platform Bluesky, calling for the assassination of the Vice President JD Vance.

"It's simple, we kill JD Vance," the person wrote from an account with the name "hanslopez.bsky.social." The comment was made in response to someone who said that "JD VANCE THINKS BRITAIN & FRANCE ARE AMERICAS [sic] LIKELY ENEMIES."

"Founded in 1952, WUML functions as a non-commercial FM station located in Lowell, Massachusetts, funded by the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and fully managed and operated by student members, broadcasting both terrestrially and online," the description of the radio station reads.

The school actually responded to the incident promptly, reporting it to authorities immediately upon its discovery. The individual is now on the Secret Service's radar.

"UMass Lowell police promptly coordinated with the FBI, Secret Service and Haverhill police the same day to ensure an appropriate response," the school said. "Contact was made with the individual in question, and the necessary assessments were conducted in collaboration with federal partners. Authorities confirmed there was no immediate threat."

"UMass Lowell takes seriously any threat of violence involving our community. Statements such as the post in question are inconsistent with the values of our democracy and our university," the statement continued. "The individual in question has since resigned from his volunteer role at WUML and removed the post from his Bluesky account."

The school revealed that the person behind the comment is an alumnus of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

This comes as violent rhetoric against Trump administration officials, immigration enforcement agents, and conservatives has increased drastically in the last year. Not only have assaults against ICE personnel skyrocketed by 3200 percent in car-ramming incidents alone, but high-profile figures like Stephen Miller have faced intensifying personal threats and vows from critics to dismantle conservative agendas through any means, including violence. 

The violent rhetoric was thought to have peaked tragically with the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a prominent conservative activist; however, the violent rhetoric only seems to be increasing.

Portland Illegal the PPB Chief Wept Over Repeatedly Rammed Border Patrol Vehicle

RedState 

An unsealed affidavit and criminal complaint concerning Luis Nino-Moncada, the Portland illegal alien who was shot on Thursday after ramming into a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle, further destroys the fake news and Oregon elected officials' narrative of neighbors being targeted and a "married couple" wounded by "ICE" violence. 

Nino-Moncada has been charged under 18 USC §§111(a) and 111(b): aggravated assault on a federal officer by using a deadly or dangerous weapon to inflict bodily injury, and 18 USC §1361: damage to federal property in excess of $1,000. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted photos on X showing the damage Nino-Moncada caused to the Border Patrol vehicle with his truck. 

Anyone who crosses the red line of assaulting law enforcement will be met with the full force of this Justice Department. 

According to a newly unsealed complaint, Luis Nino-Moncada — an illegal alien in Portland, Oregon with ties to Tren de Aragua — is alleged to have repeatedly rammed a Border Patrol vehicle, threatening the lives of federal law enforcement officers. 

He should NEVER have been in our country to begin with, and we will ensure he NEVER walks free in America again.

Nino-Moncada was under order of removal by a Denver, CO immigration judge in 2024. More than a year later, he was still in the country, which highlights the necessity of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement sweeps. Because Nino-Moncada was embedded in the sanctuary city of Portland, he could have escaped detection for many years more, showing what a scourge these cities and their leaders continue to be to the community that simply wants law and order and to a nation that ultimately pays for Portland's refusal to allow any illegal, especially those involved in criminality, to be removed. 

From the complaint:

LUIS NINO-MONCADA is also known to law enforcement as a Venezuelan TdA associate and was previously ordered removed by an immigration judge in Denver, Colorado, on November 21, 2024, and is eligible for arrest and removal. Law enforcement continues to investigate the links between these subjects and TdA. 

Nino-Moncada was not even the person of interest that Border Patrol was seeking. Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, whom the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) previously identified, was referred to in the complaint as "Adult Female 1."  Zambrano-Contreras was a known associate of Luis Nino-Moncada, so the trail led to him.  

Adult Female 1 was previously arrested by U.S. Border Patrol near El Paso, Texas, as part of a family unit on September 17, 2023, and served with a Notice to Appear and instructed to check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Portland, Oregon.  Adult Female 1 never checked in with Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and was eligible to be arrested and held in immigration custody.   8.  According to Law Enforcement reports, Adult Female 1 is a Venezuelan national known to be involved with a Tren de Aragua (TdA) prostitution ring and believed to have been previously involved in a shooting stemming from a bad prostitution deal in Washington County on or around July 7, 2025.  Law enforcement had knowledge that Adult Female 1 was associated with LUIS NINO-MONCADA.

The complaint also details how Zambrano-Contreras, "Adult Female 1," is a special piece of work. Zambrano-Contreras was well known in the area, with connections to prostitution rings, and was named in another incident that involved a shooting. Portland Police Bureau (PPB) Chief Bob Day had much of this information when he held a press conference shortly after the Thursday shooting, but deliberately withheld the information about these two and their ties to Tren de Aragua (TdA). When DHS released the full details and the mug shots of Luis Nino-Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, Day later revealed that he had hidden the information, then broke down in tears because he was concerned about victim blaming.

Day was more concerned about these two miscreants than he was about the taxpaying and legal citizens of Portland and the American people knowing the full scope of the investigation, as well as the full scope of the danger these two posed.  

As the complaint detailed, on January 8, six Border Patrol agents located Nino-Moncada's vehicle, verified the license plate, and that Adult Female 1, aka Zambrano-Contreras, was with him. When the BP agents moved in to apprehend the subjects is when Nino-Moncada reacted — badly.  

At approximately 2 p.m., Border Patrol agents initiated a traffic stop of the target vehicle in the parking lot of Adventist Health Primary Care using four unmarked vehicles. Six Border Patrol agents exited the vehicles. Four Border Patrol agents approached the target vehicle, and two Border Patrol agents remained near the vehicles. The Border Patrol agents identified themselves as law enforcement officers to the occupants and were wearing law enforcement identifying markings, including tactical vests and/or badges. One Border Patrol agent described the driver, LUIS NINO-MONCADA, as appearing anxious and visibly moving around in the driver seat. 

When the agents gave orders to exit the vehicle, Nino-Moncada put his truck in reverse and deliberately rammed the Border Patrol agents' unmarked vehicle. The complaint asserted that the illegal "continued the forward/reverse maneuver multiple times," striking the Border Patrol vehicle multiple times, after which a Border Patrol agent fired their service weapon at Nino-Moncada.

A Border Patrol agent interviewed by FBI special agents described being fearful that LUIS NINO-MONCADA could strike them and other Border Patrol agents with the target vehicle. Another Border Patrol agent then fired their service weapon at the driver of the target vehicle. The target vehicle then fled the scene. It was unknown at the time if the shots struck either LUIS NINO-MONCADA or Adult Female 1.

Nino-Moncada fled to a nearby apartment building and called for 911, which brought EMS and the Portland Police Bureau to the scene. While EMS provided medical assistance to Nino-Moncada, he repeatedly yelled, "F@$k ICE." Both illegals were taken to the hospital to receive further medical care. PPB at least did their job here by alerting federal law enforcement.

After receiving medical attention, LUIS NINO-MONCADA was read his Miranda rights and was interviewed by FBI Special Agents. In the interview, LUIS NINOMONCADA admitted to intentionally ramming the Border Patrol vehicle in an attempt to flee, and he stated that he knew they were immigration enforcement vehicles.  

Had it not been for the diligent work of those Border Patrol agents to track down and attempt to apprehend Luis Nino-Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, this human detritus would have continued in their nefarious, illicit, and deadly trafficking operations that endangered the community. That's not very neighborly at all, but this is who Day and the anti-ICE activists choose to stand up for.

Scared: Mark Kelly Sues Pete Hegseth

RedState 

Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) took to social media Monday to announce he is suing the Department of War (DOW) and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth after the agency took action to demote Kelly, a retired Naval aviator, and cut his retirement pay. Hegseth and the DOW made these moves after sitting senator Kelly joined five of his fellow Democrats – now known as the "Seditious Six" – to make a video urging active duty servicemembers to disobey commands from their superiors if they thought those commands were unlawful.

RedState's Bob Hoge reported last week on the moves taken by Hegseth and the War Department to punish Kelly following the senator's efforts to undermine the military's chain of command and disrupt morale.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., will receive a formal censure letter and that he has directed Secretary of the Navy John Phelan to review the retired Navy captain's retirement rank and pay and provide a recommendation in 45 days, sharply escalating an investigation alleging he made "seditious statements" that undermined military operations...

The review could result in a downgrade of Kelly's rank at which he officially retired. As a result, his retirement pay, which is tied to rank, may also be reduced.

A censure letter will also be issued outlining the "totality of Captain Kelly’s reckless misconduct," Hegseth said.

Kelly's lawsuit – which names the DOW, Hegseth, and Navy Secretary John Phelan as defendants – seeks to reinstate what Kelly says he "earned through my twenty-five years of military service." Kelly claims Hegseth's actions are "in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator whose job is to hold him—and this or any administration—accountable."

Before waxing poetically about his military career, Kelly blasted Hegseth for threatening veterans. "Pete Hegseth," wrote Kelly on X, "wants our longest-serving military veterans to live with the constant threat that they could be deprived of their rank and pay years or even decades after they leave the military just because he or another Secretary of Defense doesn’t like what they’ve said."

Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five years of military service, in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator whose job is to hold him—and this or any administration—accountable. His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the President or Secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted.

Every servicemember knows military rank is earned, not given. It's earned through the risks you take, the sacrifices you and your family make, the leadership you display, and the respect you earn from the superiors who recommend you for promotion. From the moment I drove through the gates of Naval Air Station Pensacola, to when I was shot at over Iraq and Kuwait, to when I landed Space Shuttle Endeavour on its last mission, I gave everything I had to this country and I earned my rank of Captain, United States Navy.

Now, Pete Hegseth wants our longest-serving military veterans to live with the constant threat that they could be deprived of their rank and pay years or even decades after they leave the military just because he or another Secretary of Defense doesn’t like what they’ve said. That’s not the way things work in the United States of America, and I won’t stand for it.

In 1986, at just 22 years old, I took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. I have fulfilled that oath every day since, but I never expected that I would have to defend it against a Secretary of Defense or President. But I’ve never shied away from a fight for our country, and I won’t shy away from this one. Because our freedom of speech, the separation of powers, and due process are not just words on a page, they are bedrock principles of our democracy that has lasted 250 years and will last 250 more as long as patriotic Americans are willing to stand up for our rights.

So today, I filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of Defense because there are few things as important as standing up for the rights of the very Americans who fought to defend our freedoms.

FED Chairman Jerome Powell Attempts to Evade Legal Accountability by Hiding Behind His Office

Regardless of how you feel about the Federal Reserve Board, I think we would all agree the construct of an autonomous central bank is outside the boundaries of our constitutional framework.  Factually, the Sea Island financial group set up the Federal Reserve as a system of control over the U.S. economy that was completely unnecessary.

That same ultra-constitutional mindset of omnipotent power permeates the recent statements by FED Chair Jerome Powell, who now attempts to evade a Dept of Justice investigation by hiding behind the ruse of his non-elected office.

Last year, facing ridiculous cost overruns, Congress questioned Powell over the insane spending proposal by Powell for a new office building.  Chairman Powell characterized the construction changes, that escalated the cost of the project from $1.9 billion to $2.5 billion, as ‘minor modifications.’  That’s $2.5 billions of taxpayer money.

A referral to the Dept of Justice was made [SEE HERE] following Powell’s testimony.  Things got ugly quickly when President Trump, a builder and renovator himself, took exception with the scale and scope of the ridiculous spending plan.

In an effort to both use his office as a defense, and simultaneously weaponize the power of his position, Jerome Powell waits until Sunday evening to announce he is being investigated by the DOJ [SEE HERE], and then he claims it is political targeting.

President Trump and Mexican President Sheinbaum Conduct Brief Phone Call

According to reporting from the Associated Press the telephone call lasted approximately 15 minutes; however, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called it “a very good conversation.”

(AP) “Sheinbaum said the two leaders did not speak about Cuba, which Trump threatened Sunday. Mexico is an important ally of the island nation, including selling it oil that it will need even more desperately now that the Trump administration says it will not allow any more oil shipments from Venezuela to Cuba.”

According to the AP report, President Trump again told President Sheinbaum that he was ready to support Mexico with U.S. law enforcement should she decide to take on the cartels.  Sheinbaum again said that Mexico did not need the U.S. help and progress was being made.

“We told [President Trump], so far it’s going very well, it’s not necessary, and furthermore there is Mexico’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and he understood,” Sheinbaum is reported as saying, which, if you think about it, is really quite an alarming statement even within a brief phone call.

When asked about combatting cartel influence, “so far it’s going well” is not exactly confidence inspiring.  Within the answer itself is an admission the Mexican government has an issue with cartel control.  – AP REPORT HERE 

Saying they have it under control is an admission there is something that needs to be controlled.  Apparently, success on this issue in Mexico is defined as, “a significant drop in homicides, falling U.S. fentanyl seizures and fentanyl overdose deaths.”

According to Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente, these are the “tangible results” Secretary Rubio previously said were needed.  So, there’s that.