North Carolina's transgender law creates tangle of lawsuits

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The dueling lawsuits over North Carolina's law on bathroom use by transgender people have landed in the hands of three federal judges appointed by Republican presidents, with both sides trying to maneuver into the most favorable courtroom possible.

[...] it remains to be seen whether they will be decided in the court picked by the law's opponents for its moderate reputation, or in the more conservative court chosen by the measure's GOP supporters.

[...] the dispute could ultimately be headed for the U.S. Supreme Court for a ruling once and for all on whether federal laws including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protect transgender people from discrimination.

At issue is a state law that says transgender people must use public bathrooms, showers and changing rooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificate.

Legal scholars agree that opponents of the law chose the middle district because of the more moderate overall reputation of its six judges.

To the east, the case filed by the governor in defense of the law wound up before U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle, a former aide to archconservative Sen. Jesse Helms who was denied a seat on the 4th Circuit by the Democrats after a 16-year standoff.