BOISE, Idaho (Legal Newsline) - Idaho teachers who sued over a state law prohibiting them from speaking favorably about abortion have lost their court case, though don't seem to be facing any punishment.
Federal judge David Nye on July 2 granted the State's motion to dismiss the case, filed in 2023 by the Idaho Federation Of Teachers and others. It targeted Idaho's No Public Funds for Abortion Act, which was passed in May 2021.
They said it imposes a "straightjacket upon intellectual leaders" and hinders an open and robust exchange of ideas on social, legal and political subjects.
Nye ruled for state Attorney General Raul Labrador despite Nye's admitted "concerns about the statute."
"It is not a beacon of clarity and may invite further litigation down the road," he wrote. "The Court is also not entirely convinced that the Idaho Attorney General's interpretation of the statute is accurate."
Labrador has said he will not punish these particular plaintiffs, leading Nye to ask "is this even a case at all?"
Ultimately, Nye did not rule on whether the statute is constitutional, finding the instant case lacked a dispute he could decide.
"(T)he statute itself is silent regarding whether any specific group (such as professors) or any sub-type of speech (such as academia) is exempt from its reach," Nye wrote.
"Thus, while the words themselves may be fairly understood, their application the academic setting is less than clear. Thus, reasonable minds could differ when it comes to answering the question of whether Plaintiffs plan to violate the statute because reasonable minds could differ on the scope of the statute vis-a-vis certain definitions."