Attorney General Griffin Co-Leads Effort to Uphold Fairness in Women’s Sports

Attorney General Griffin Co-Leads Effort to Uphold Fairness in Women’s Sports

LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement after he and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall co-led a coalition of attorneys general in submitting two separate amicus briefs in support of fairness in women’s sports:

“Our coalition filed briefs today urging the United States Supreme Court to preserve States’ authority to enact laws that protect girls and women in athletic competitions by prohibiting biological males from competing on female teams. Idaho and West Virginia passed such laws, but the United States Courts of Appeals for the Ninth and Fourth Circuits, respectively, have enjoined their enforcement.

“Idaho and West Virginia have challenged those rulings, and our coalition stands firm with them to promote equal athletic opportunities for women and girls.

“This is a commonsense issue about which the vast majority of Americans agree. States are well within their authority to prohibit biological males from competing in girls-only athletic competitions, and laws to that effect do not violate the Constitution or Title IX. Indeed, Title IX cannot possibly be read as prohibiting recipients from having some athletic teams reserved for biological girls so that girls have equal athletic opportunities.”

The Ninth Circuit’s ruling was in Little v. Hecox. The Fourth Circuit’s ruling was in West Virginia v. B.P.J.

Joining Griffin and Marshall on the briefs were the attorneys general of Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho (B.P.J. only), Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia (Hecox only), Wyoming, and the U.S. Territory of Guam.

To read the brief in Little v. Hecox, click here. To read the brief in West Virginia v. B.P.J., click here.

To download a PDF version of this release, click here.

About Attorney General Tim Griffin

Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.

Griffin is currently an officer in the Arkansas Army National Guard and holds the rank of colonel. Griffin served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 28 years. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.

His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana; the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.

Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.

Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.

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