COURTS/MILITARY/TRANSGENDER/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A federal judge in Baltimore rejected the Trump administration’s request to shield information it employed when deciding to ban transgender people from the U.S. military. The decision on Tuesday [8-14-18] by U.S. Magistrate Judge A. David Copperthite came in a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf more than one dozen transgender people serving or who want to serve in the military. Copperthite declined to decide whether President Donald Trump deserved a protective order for his own communications, pending a ruling on whether to dismiss Trump as a defendant. Andy Reuss, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, declined to comment. The lawsuit is one of several challenging a ban that Trump announced on Twitter on July 26, 2017, citing ‘consultation with my Generals and military experts’ and the ‘tremendous medical costs and disruption’ of transgender service members. Several federal judges have blocked that ban, which reversed a year-old Obama administration policy, or a narrower version announced in March 2018. The military began accepting transgender recruits this year even as the White House continued to litigate.”
–Jonathan Stempel, “White House cannot shield information on transgender military ban: judge,” Reuters, August 15, 2018 1:35 pm