Judge mulling LGBT law has GOP and big-business pedigree

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The fate of the North Carolina law governing transgender restroom access rests in the hands of a judge appointed by President George W. Bush who recently sided with the state's Republican leaders by upholding a voter ID law — but just had that decision overturned by a federal appeals court.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder, a former corporate lawyer known for representing the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, scheduled oral arguments for Monday on whether the state can require transgender people to use restrooms in many public buildings that match their birth certificates, rather than their gender identities.

"When he was put in the court by Bush, there was a sigh of relief from the plaintiffs' bar" that the president didn't pick someone more conservative, Smith recalled.

[...] Schroeder has earned a reputation as a meticulous legal thinker who holds lawyers to high standards.

Last summer, Schroeder also ruled that the Justice Department failed to prove allegations that a North Carolina sheriff ordered deputies to target Hispanic residents in violation of their civil rights.

[...] he's on a three-judge panel that has yet to rule on a challenge to Republican-drawn state legislative districts.

Schroeder's selection from private practice stands out in an era when the last two presidents have turned to lower-court judges and government lawyers for two-thirds of their federal district court appointees, Wheeler said.