Overview

• Attorney General Aaron Frey submitted a brief on May 8 urging the U.S. Supreme Court to deny Rep. Laurel Libby’s emergency appeal to restore her voting and speaking rights in the Maine House.
• Libby, censured for posting a photo of a transgender high school athlete, has refused to apologize as required under Maine House Rule 401(11) to regain her floor privileges.
• Lower courts, including the U.S. District Court and the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, previously ruled against Libby’s efforts to overturn the censure.
• Libby’s emergency appeal, filed with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on April 28, argues the censure violates her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
• The case has drawn national attention, intersecting with broader debates over transgender participation in sports and legislative free speech rights.