Something very strange is afoot up in Maine: all of the state's federal judges have recused themselves from hearing a lawsuit filed by Republican state Rep. Laurel Libby against Democrat Speaker Ryan Fecteau, who censured Libby last month for her efforts to keep boys from participating in girls' sports.

As RedState's Sister Toldjah previously reported, Rep. Libby was on the receiving end of Fecteau's ire for her efforts to highlight the devastating impact of boys participating in—and winning!—girls' sporting competitions. Libby, using publicly available information and photos, shared to her social media accounts the example of one young man from Maine who tied for fifth place in a male pole vaulting competition one year, only to win the female event the next year by pretending to be a girl. 

Libby was censured in a party-line vote by the Maine of Representatives, with Democrats accusing her of "doxxing" the boy in question despite the fact that she didn't name him, provide his address, nor use images that weren't already available on Google. The image of Libby standing before Fecteau to receive her punishment was ... not great. For Fecteau. 

.@GovJanetMills's campaign to cancel both girls' sports *and* anyone who speaks out against her radical agenda continues...

🧵 pic.twitter.com/wlYp71CZIt

— Rep. Laurel Libby (@laurel_libby) February 26, 2025

On Tuesday, Libby and six of her constituents filed a lawsuit against Fecteau, arguing that the speaker and his Democrat colleagues had violated her First Amendment rights by silencing her attempt to debate the issue of biological males competing in female sports. That's when the curious case of the disappearing judges emerged, with Judicial Crisis Network's Carrie Severino noticing the weird series of recusals.

I am not sure I have ever seen a situation where EVERY judge in a federal district has recused themself from a case.

It raises questions about what exactly is going on here.

Speaker Fecteau has not yet responded to the complaint, so there is no conflict of interest concerning… pic.twitter.com/aEwleSzLEI

— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) March 12, 2025

I am not sure I have ever seen a situation where EVERY judge in a federal district has recused themself from a case.

It raises questions about what exactly is going on here.

Speaker Fecteau has not yet responded to the complaint, so there is no conflict of interest concerning his counsel. There is no financial interest at stake for the judges in this case. Does Speaker Fecteau have a very close relationship with every judge in the District of Maine such that they believe that they all believe they need to recuse?

Or is there something else going on? Do the federal district judges in Maine see the Speaker's unconstitutional actions with respect to Rep. @laurel_libby as a hot potato that they would rather not touch?

I hope not, because that's not an option for a judge who has sworn an oath to the Constitution.

This is all very curious, indeed. Here's the scoop on federal judges recusing themselves from cases:

Under federal law, judges have a broad ability to remove themselves from any case where there could be a potential conflict. They’re obligated to step away from a case if they have a personal bias against a party, have personal knowledge of disputed facts, were an attorney for the matter in controversy, have a financial interest in a controversy, or have a spouse involved in a case.

And federal judges do not have to provide a reason for their recusals, so we'll likely never know why every single one of them bowed out. As Severino notes, they're unlikely to have a financial interest in this case, so maybe they are all unusually close with Mr. Speaker? Or perhaps none of them has the courage to have their names attached to this hot-button issue?

Whatever the reason, it's Maine's Democrat governor, Janet Mills, who put her state squarely in the spotlight here by refusing to comply with President Trump's executive order banning biological males from participating in female sports. So wedded are Democrats to this issue that Mills is willing to risk federal funding to her state in order to pat herself on the back for being a raging leftist. 

Consequences: Finding Out: Trump Admin Yanks Funding to Blue-State University That Allows Men in Women's Sports

Libby's lawsuit will now be heard by two federal judges from Rhode Island.