A nonprofit that oversees interscholastic sports in Maine has asked a federal judge to block a U.S. Department of Justice subpoena that it says would require turning over the names of all students who play school sports in the state.
The Maine Principals' Association said in a Sept. 4 court filing that the subpoena — part of the Justice Department's effort to enforce an executive order banning transgender athletes from competing on sports teams that match their gender identity — is overly broad and would compel production of personally identifiable information for students "many of whom are unrelated to the underlying controversy." The association said it was willing to provide documents responsive to the subpoena but would not disclose confidential student names and records.
James Belleau, an attorney for the association, said the group will "protect confidential student names and records and school personnel." The full scope of the subpoena remains under seal, but the association's filing described a request for "all athletic rosters for the state." The motion asking the judge to reject the subpoena is pending in federal court.
In court papers this month, the Justice Department said the student information it seeks is "highly relevant" and "proportional to the needs of this important case concerning boys playing in sports designated for girls." The department wrote that its requests include records for athletic competitions where students are competing in events designated for the opposite sex and described athletic rosters as "necessary background evidence" for its claims.
The fight over the subpoena is part of a broader legal and political dispute between the Biden and Trump administrations and Maine over transgender participation in school sports. The Trump administration sued Maine in April after the state declined to comply with an executive order prohibiting transgender athletes from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity. The dispute intensified after a February White House meeting during which Republican President Donald Trump confronted Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who said at the time, "We'll see you in court." The U.S. Department of Education in March said its investigation found Maine violated Title IX by allowing transgender girls to compete on girls' teams and use girls' facilities; the Education Department later referred the matter to the Justice Department.
Officials for the Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Office of the Maine Attorney General also declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.
Legal advocates and school officials have said that broad disclosure of student records raises privacy concerns, while the federal government has argued that access to athletic rosters and related records is necessary to establish whether and where students were competing in sports designated for the opposite sex. The judge's decision on the association's request to quash or limit the subpoena will determine how much student-identifying information, if any, becomes available for the government's case.
The case remains active in federal court, and the association's motion is expected to be addressed as part of the broader litigation over enforcement of the executive order and the scope of federal investigatory powers in school sports disputes.