Supreme Court Shrugs Off Opportunity To Overturn Fifth Circuit’s Batshit Support Of Texas Drag Show Ban

Free Speech

from the fuck-em-for-trying,-I-guess dept

The laziest court in the land has again decided it’s not worth its time to undo another horrible decision issued by an appellate court that far too often feels the Fifth (Circuit) is superior to the First (Amendment).

The nation’s top court seems more motivated to take cases if it can curtail long-held rights. When rights are already being curtailed, it appears it can’t be bothered to take a closer look. Sure, the Supreme Court has undone some horrible qualified immunity decisions issued by the Fifth Circuit, but when it comes to certain people being held under the government’s thumb? Too bad. Thanks for playing.

And such is the case here, as explained by the Associated Press.

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal from a student group that has been blocked from staging a drag show at a public university in Texas.

The justices did not comment Friday in refusing to issue an order that would have allowed Spectrum WT — a group for LGBTQ+ students and allies — to put on a charity show on March 22 on the campus of West Texas A&M University in Canyon, located just south of Amarillo.

It’s not like the Supreme Court won’t lift a finger if it’s drag shows on the line. It previously left an injunction in place preventing Florida from enforcing its anti-drag show law. There are other injunctions in place blocking similar laws in Montana and Tennessee, so the highest court in the nation will still be given opportunities to hand down precedent.

But will it? These aren’t the sort of cases the Supreme Court appears willing to address. It has twice been given an opportunity to examine appellate rulings and has twice decided it simply won’t. And now we’re looking at 50-50 splits. By ignoring this case, the highest court in the land is divided against itself, saying (without a ruling) that Florida’s law is unconstitutional while (with the same inaction) declaring Texas’s law constitutional.

Its unwillingness to review this case indicates it at least partially agrees with the ridiculous conclusion reached by the Fifth Circuit earlier this year:

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled against the group. “The First Amendment does not prevent school officials from restricting ‘vulgar and lewd’ conduct that would ‘undermine the school’s basic educational mission’ — particularly in settings where children are physically present,” Kacsmaryk, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, wrote last year.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which hears cases from Texas, refused to allow the drag show to go ahead or speed up its timetable for hearing and deciding the student group’s appeal.

Considering this case deals with drag shows hosted by public universities, the chances of actual children being present are incredibly slim. And it’s highly unlikely the audience would contain unattended children, which means the court doesn’t believe parents or guardians are capable of deciding what their kids can or can’t view.

It’s not as though cases like these have resulted in a steady stream of contradictory rulings. The Fifth Circuit Appeals Court is the outlier, much as it always is when civil rights are on the line. And not in a good way! Despite the addition of a judge who clearly recognizes rights violations when he sees them, the Fifth Circuit continues to play by its own rules. And that’s clearly unacceptable when it’s just as beholden to the Constitution as the rest of us.

The real shame here is that the Supreme Court can’t be bothered to set it straight. Then again, we should probably count ourselves lucky. When rights are on the line, the Supreme Court has indicated it would rather solidify the astounding lead white males have built for themselves than protect those who still find themselves under the thumb of straight Caucasians.

Filed Under: 1st amendment, 5th circuit, drag shows, supreme court, texas