Judge Schroeder Now Making Decisions About HB2

Thomas Schroeder

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder will be hearing arguments today in Winston-Salem on the constitutionality of HB2. Specifically, Schroeder will be hearing a request from challengers of the law to block its implementation until a trial can be held.

Schroeder ... where have we heard his name before? Oh, yeah. He was the judge whose "hunky-dory" ruling on North Carolina's new election law restrictions was just overturned -- more accurately, pounded into sand -- by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Today, Schroeder will be -- should be -- assessing whether the challengers of HB2 have a "likelihood for success" down the road in a trial, a factor that usually weighs heavily in a judge’s decision to block a law while a legal challenge pends.

Governor McCrory's lawyers are, of course, arguing that the state has a legitimate interest in protecting both the privacy and the safety of citizens from the fantasy predations of transgender people, an argument -- who the hell knows? -- that Judge Schroeder may find himself enamored of.

The challengers of HB2 have tons of evidence on their side that transgender people are the ones who suffer threats to privacy and safety (especially safety) under laws like the one McCrory signed.