The Arkansas Supreme Court dismissed a case on Thursday that sought to reverse amendments made to driver’s licenses regarding gender identity.
The Department of Finance and Administration had filed a permanent rule regarding gender identity, so the action had become moot at that point. The ruling followed.
The original complaint against the DFA’s emergency, non-permanent order was filed in March by the ACLU of Arkansas. This law made it mandatory for the “M” or “F” designation on a driver’s license to correspond to the information on the license holder’s birth certificate, ending the practice of allowing “X” to be used as a gender identity on a license.
The lawsuit accused the DFA of failing to implement an emergency regulation in accordance with the correct protocol.
According to an ACLU representative, the organization had agreed that the dismissal was justified and that the issue had become moot in light of the permanent rule.
“Dismissal was expected, and we agreed to it,” according to the spokesperson. “After the state passed the permanent rule, the challenge to the emergency rule was moot because it concerned only the procedure by which the emergency rule was passed.”
September 2 was the start date of the new rule. Attorney General Tim Griffin hailed the verdict on Thursday as a triumph for the rule of law. Griffin’s office filed the dismissal.
By: Lawsuit attempting to block new driver’s license gender rule dismissed by Arkansas Supreme Court
