Every federal court that has looked at Trump's ban on transgender military services has ruled against it so, to that end, the Trump regime is asking the Supreme Court to bypass lower federal courts.
They're asking the Supreme Court to take up at least one of three case before any federal appeals court can rule against the ban because, in the Trump regime's words, it's an emergency.
The requests in all three cases come to the justices in an unusual posture. Normally, after an appeals court rules, the losing party chooses whether or not to ask the Supreme Court to review the matter. Here, the request comes in the form of petitions for certiorari before judgment, meaning that the department is asking the Supreme Court to review the case before appeals courts have had the chance to rule on the matter.
While the practice is disfavored — under Supreme Court rules, such review is only granted if a party can show “the case is of such imperative public importance as to justify deviation from normal appellate practice and to require immediate determination in this Court” — the Justice Department in the Trump administration has regularly gone to the high court seeking action before the appeals courts have weighed in. [...]
Two of Friday’s filings come in cases out of the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which has long been the source of animosity from Trump but flared up into a back-and-forth with Chief Justice John Roberts this week. Arguments were held in one of those appeals on Oct. 10, but the other appeal was only filed on Nov. 16. The third case comes out of DC, where the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit is scheduled to hold oral arguments on the Justice Department’s appeal on Dec. 10.
We covered Trump's latest attempt to ban transgender military service here when it was unveiled earlier this year but, in case you missed it, the original ban would simply prohibit all transgender individuals from serving and kick those currently serving out of the military.
The second ban changed the language while not changing the outcome. The second failed (so far) ban would prohibit anyone in the military from identifying as transgender, making it an even more extreme version of Don't Ask Don't Tell as recruits could potentially be forced to lie about both their gender identity and sexual orientation as it relates to their identity.
Trump regime lawyers have continued to insist that the presences of transgender soldiers harms "readiness," whateverthefuck that means, but they haven't presented any evidence of that.
There are openly transgender people serving in the military right now and they haven't caused any problems that we know of. And for those who are open about their identity, there are undoubtedly many more who aren't.
It may or may not make any difference in this case, but Trump recently made an enemy out of Chief Justice John Roberts.