We reported Monday that a federal appeals judge, Bobby E. Shepherd of El Dorado, has recused from the case of an Arkansas law that would ban gender-affirming health care for minors. Now we know the likely reason.
Shepherd is the father of Arkansas House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, and it was the state Legislature that approved the law, leading to a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality.
Bobby Shepherd is one of 11 judges on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. That panel, minus Shepherd, is to hear oral arguments in the case on April 11.
Once again, thanks to senior editor Max Brantley for the background.
A federal judge overturned the law in June, and an appeals court panel upheld that decision. But state officials are now appealing to the full appeals court.
