State of Maine files legal response to DOJ lawsuit over Title IX compliance

AUGUSTA, Maine (WMTW) - The Maine Attorney General’s Office has filed its legal response to the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the Maine Department of Education over Title IX compliance.

In the filing, the Maine Attorney General’s Office states it has at least seven legal defenses against the claims made by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The introduction of the legal filing references the Feb. 21 clash at the White House between President Donald Trump and Maine Gov. Janet Mills. During that heated exchange, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from Maine if the state did not comply with his Feb. 5 executive order. Mills said she has been complying with state and federal law, and told Trump: “We’ll see you in court.”

Maine’s legal response argues that Trump’s executive order banning transgender girls and women from competing in female sports cannot alter or interpret federal law, and had no authority to define the term “sex” as biological sex rather than gender identity.

The state also argued that the DOJ completed its investigation into alleged Title IX violations in four days and never spoke to “a single individual from the Department (of Education), seek a single document from the Department, or give the Department an opportunity to respond or otherwise participate in any investigation.”

In addition, the Maine Attorney General’s Office argues the DOJ’s claims are barred because they violate the equal protection and due process clauses of the Constitution, as well as the separation of powers.

In its legal response, the state asks the judge in the case to rule in Maine’s favor and award any costs and any other relief the court deems appropriate.

Read the entire legal filing from the Maine Attorney General’s Office.

A DOJ spokesperson informed Maine’s Total Coverage that the department had no comment on the state’s legal response beyond its court filings and previous comments from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The Maine Department of Education was found to be in violation of Title IX by the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. Both Title IX cases were referred to the DOJ after Maine refused to sign a resolution agreement with the OCR at HHS and with the Education Department’s OCR.

In response, Bondi announced on April 16 that the DOJ had filed a civil lawsuit against the state of Maine for “failure to comply with federal law.”

Last week, Mills and Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey celebrated a legal settlement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture regarding the freezing or termination of funding over alleged Title IX violations.

The judge also filed a scheduling order on Thursday. She says she expects the case to be ready for trial by December 3rd of this year.