Section 7

Citation: Section 7
Parent Document: Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 2020-06-15
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4760997/bostock-v-clayton-county/ ↗

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2007).
The Court observes that “[t]he people are entitled to rely
on the law as written, without fearing that courts might
disregard its plain terms,” ante, at 24, but it has no qualms
about disregarding over 50 years of uniform judicial inter-
pretation of Title VII’s plain text. Rather, the Court makes
the jaw-dropping statement that its decision exemplifies
“judicial humility.” Ante, at 31. Is it humble to maintain,
not only that Congress did not understand the terms it en-
acted in 1964, but that all the Circuit Judges on all the pre-
2017 cases could not see what the phrase discrimination
“because of sex” really means? If today’s decision is humble,
it is sobering to imagine what the Court might do if it de-
cided to be bold.
IV
What the Court has done today––interpreting discrimi-
nation because of “sex” to encompass discrimination be-
cause of sexual orientation or gender identity––is virtually
certain to have far-reaching consequences. Over 100 fed-
eral statutes prohibit discrimination because of sex. See
Appendix C, infra; e.g., 20 U. S. C. §1681(a) (Title IX); 42
U. S. C. §3631 (Fair Housing Act); 15 U. S. C. 1691(a)(1)
(Equal Credit Opportunity Act). The briefs in these cases
have called to our attention the potential effects that the
Court’s reasoning may have under some of these laws, but
the Court waves those considerations aside. As to Title VII
itself, the Court dismisses questions about “bathrooms,
locker rooms, or anything else of the kind.” Ante, at 31. And
it declines to say anything about other statutes whose
terms mirror Title VII’s.
The Court’s brusque refusal to consider the consequences
of its reasoning is irresponsible. If the Court had allowed
the legislative process to take its course, Congress would
have had the opportunity to consider competing interests
and might have found a way of accommodating at least
Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 45 ALITO, J., dissenting

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