Overview
- The three-judge panel on January 28 affirmed a Maryland district court’s decision and rejected Kimberly Polk’s request for a preliminary injunction.
- The ruling means Polk cannot take MCPS teaching assignments unless she follows the district’s requirement to use students’ chosen names and pronouns and to keep a student’s trans status confidential.
- Judge Robert B. King wrote for the majority that the guidelines are neutral and generally applicable and that the speech at issue falls within a teacher’s official duties.
- Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III dissented, characterizing the policy as compelled speech and asserting Polk was likely to succeed on her free speech claim.
- Polk’s attorney said they are considering an appeal to the full Fourth Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court, and the decision is precedential across the circuit’s five states.