NBC was the lone network evening newscast to report on the hearing on transgender bans in school sports before the United States Supreme Court. The brief report, however, quickly devolved into a lecture from legal correspondent Laura Jarrett lamenting conservatives’ position on continued attempts to erase women in sports.
Watch the report in its entirety, as aired on NBC Nightly News on Tuesday, January 13th, 2025:
TOM LLAMAS: The Supreme Court today hearing a pair of landmark cases that could allow states to ban transgender students from playing in girls’ sports. Laura Jarrett was following the arguments and Laura, this decision is obviously going to have a major impact.
LAURA JARRETT: Tom, this is one of the biggest cases of the term. The justices now confronting a question they haven't actually answered before on state laws in West Virginia and Idaho that require participation on sports teams to be based on the student's biological sex at birth. That's something that the states argue is needed to make sure that girls aren't being disadvantaged. And the questions from the court today on the conservative side suggesting they are simply unwilling to say that these sports bans now found in more than half of states nationwide violate the Constitution's promise for equal treatment, emphasizing that federal law allows separate sports teams for boys and girls and that this is an issue best left to the political process, Tom.
LLAMAS: All right, Laura. We thank you for that.
. steve malzberg
