Defending Education v. Sullivan

10th Cir. · 1:25-cv-01572 · 2025 · CourtListener

Cite as Defending Educ. v. Sullivan, No. 1:25-cv-01572 (D. Colo. filed May 19, 2025)

Circuit10th Cir.Speech & religious objections Public accommodations

Docket

No. 1:25-cv-01572

Assigned to: Regina M. Rodriguez
Referred to: Maritza Dominguez Braswell
Cause: 42:1983 Civil Rights Act
Nature of suit: 440 Civil Rights: Other
Jurisdiction: Federal Question
Jury demand: None
Date filed: 2025-05-19
Last filing: 2026-10-21

No. 26-1101

Nature of suit: 3440 Other Civil Rights
Date filed: 2026-04-02
Last filing: 2026-10-12

Proceedings

D Colo · No. 1:25-cv-01572 · Docket on CourtListener

180 docket entries · 29 documents

Defending Educ. v. Sullivan, No. 1:25-cv-01572 (D. Colo. filed May 19, 2025)

10th Cir. · No. 26-1101 · Docket on CourtListener

104 docket entries · 14 documents

Defending Educ. v. Sullivan, No. 26-1101 (10th Cir. filed Apr. 2, 2026)

Recent docket activity

From the case's dockets as the archive holds them; each docket page lists every entry.

Show 1 more

2026-09-25 Party Protect Kids Colorado, Colorado Parent Advocacy Network and Defending Education terminated pursuant to the 139 Order entered on 9/26/2026. (kmyha) (Entered: 09/25/2026)#140

Timeline

2025-05-19 Filed: D Colo, No. 1:25-cv-01572
2026-04-02 Filed: 10th Cir., No. 26-1101

Filings on file (43 in 26 docket entries)

Filings on file
Date	No.	Document	Type	Pages	Source
	1	filing		58	PDF CL

	1	COMPLAINT against All Defendants (Filing fee $ 405,Receipt Number ACODC-10343976)Attorney J. Michael Connolly added to p	Complaint	58
	1-1	Summons Sullivan Summons		2	PDF CL
	1-2	Summons Cordova Summons		2	PDF CL
	1-3	Summons Asfaw Summons		2	PDF CL
	1-4	Summons Fieweger Summons		2	PDF CL
	1-5	Summons Ward Summons		2	PDF CL
	1-6	Summons Kelly Summons		2	PDF CL
	1-7	Summons Artis Summons		2	PDF CL
	1-8	Summons Weiser Summons		2	PDF CL
	1-9	Civil Cover Sheet		3	PDF CL
	27	Main document not on file

	27-4	Rasmussen Declaration		4	PDF CL
	37	Withdraw as Attorney		2	PDF CL
	42	Order		2	PDF CL

	42	PRE-SCHEDULING CONFERENCE ORDER	Order	2
	72	Leave to Restrict		6	PDF CL
	88	Leave to Restrict		6	PDF CL
	98	Main document not on file

	98-1	Appendix		828	PDF CL
2026-02-19	101	Order on Motion for Leave to Restrict AND Order on Motion for Leave to Restrict	Motion Hearing	1
	103	Leave to Restrict		6	PDF CL
	115	Order on Motion for Preliminary Injunction AND Order on Repo		24	PDF CL

	115	Order on Motion for Preliminary Injunction AND Order on Report and Recommendations	Order	24
	116	Minute Order		1	PDF CL

	116	Minute Order	Other	1
2026-09-25	139	ORDER adopting 125 Magistrate Judge Recommendation 125 ; overruling 132 CCRD Defendants' Objection to the Recommendation, 133 The Attorney General's Objection to the Recommendation, and 134 Plaintiffs' Objection to the Recomm endation; granting in part and denying in part 81 Motion to Dismiss; granting in part and denying in part 82 Motion to Dismiss; Defending Education, Colorado Parent Advocacy Network, and Protect Kids Colorados claims are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. By Judge Regina M. Rodriguez on 9/25/2026. (kmyha)	Order on Motion to Dismiss AND Order on Motion to Dismiss AND Order on Report and Recommendations	28	PDF CL
2026-10-09	142	Order		13	PDF CL
2026-10-21	143	ORDER. The Parties' Joint Motion to Stay (Defending Education, 25-cv-1572, ECF No. 141 ; Committee of Five, 25-cv-1688, ECF No. 129 ; Doxa, 25-cv-2177, ECF No. 88 ) is GRANTED, following the Court's decision on Defendants' Motion for Order to Certify a Question of Law. Pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.1(d), the deadline for Plaintiffs' response Defendants' Motion for Order to Certify a Question of Law is October 30, 2026. SO ORDERED by Chief Judge Regina M. Rodriguez on 10/21/2026.(ccuen, )	Order on Motion to Stay	4	PDF CL
2026-04-28	17	[11277243] Order filed by Clerk of the Court. The court will partially procedurally consolidate Case Nos. 26-1101, 26-1103, and 26-1104, for the purposes of Appellees’ Response Brief and submission to the court. Appellants briefs and appenddix are due on 06/08/2026 for Colorado Parent Advocacy Network, Defending Education, Do No Harm, Valeri Leswing, Travis Morrell, Mountain Pediatrics, Protect Kids Colorado, Committee of Five, Inc. and Doxa Enterprises, LTD. Motions for extensions of time for the opening briefs are discouraged to ensure a consistent timeline for all three appeals. Served on 04/28/2026. [26-1101, 26-1103, 26-1104] [Entered: 04/28/2026 04:28 PM]	Filing	2	PDF CL
2026-06-08	18	[11288614] Appellant/Petitioner's brief filed by Colorado Parent Advocacy Network, Defending Education, Do No Harm, Valeri Leswing, Travis Morrell, Mountain Pediatrics and Protect Kids Colorado. Served on 06/08/2026 by email. Oral argument requested? Yes. Word/page count: 12908. This pleading complies with all required privacy and virus certifications: Yes. [26-1101] JMC [Entered: 06/08/2026 08:49 PM]	Filing	108	PDF CL
2026-06-08	19	Main document not on file

	19-1	[11288616] Appellant's appendix filed by Colorado Parent Advocacy Network, Defending Education, Do No Harm, Valeri Leswing, Travis Morrell, Mountain Pediatrics and Protect Kids Colorado. Total number of volumes filed: 7. Served on 06/08/2026. Manner of Service: email. This pleading complies with all required privacy and virus certifications: Yes. [26-1101] JMC [Entered: 06/08/2026 09:08 PM]	Appendix Volume	290	PDF CL
	19-2	[11288616] Appellant's appendix filed by Colorado Parent Advocacy Network, Defending Education, Do No Harm, Valeri Leswing, Travis Morrell, Mountain Pediatrics and Protect Kids Colorado. Total number of volumes filed: 7. Served on 06/08/2026. Manner of Service: email. This pleading complies with all required privacy and virus certifications: Yes. [26-1101] JMC [Entered: 06/08/2026 09:08 PM]	Appendix Volume	277	PDF CL
	19-3	[11288616] Appellant's appendix filed by Colorado Parent Advocacy Network, Defending Education, Do No Harm, Valeri Leswing, Travis Morrell, Mountain Pediatrics and Protect Kids Colorado. Total number of volumes filed: 7. Served on 06/08/2026. Manner of Service: email. This pleading complies with all required privacy and virus certifications: Yes. [26-1101] JMC [Entered: 06/08/2026 09:08 PM]	Appendix Volume	299	PDF CL
	19-4	[11288616] Appellant's appendix filed by Colorado Parent Advocacy Network, Defending Education, Do No Harm, Valeri Leswing, Travis Morrell, Mountain Pediatrics and Protect Kids Colorado. Total number of volumes filed: 7. Served on 06/08/2026. Manner of Service: email. This pleading complies with all required privacy and virus certifications: Yes. [26-1101] JMC [Entered: 06/08/2026 09:08 PM]	Appendix Volume	299	PDF CL
	19-5	[11288616] Appellant's appendix filed by Colorado Parent Advocacy Network, Defending Education, Do No Harm, Valeri Leswing, Travis Morrell, Mountain Pediatrics and Protect Kids Colorado. Total number of volumes filed: 7. Served on 06/08/2026. Manner of Service: email. This pleading complies with all required privacy and virus certifications: Yes. [26-1101] JMC [Entered: 06/08/2026 09:08 PM]	Appendix Volume	209	PDF CL
2026-06-09	21	[11288966] Motion filed by Appellees Eric Artis, Geta Asfaw, Sergio Raudel Cordova, Mayuko Fieweger, Jade Rose Kelly, Aubrey C. Sullivan, Daniel S. Ward and Philip J. Weiser in 26-1101, Appellees Eric Artis, Geta Asfaw, Sergio Raudel Cordova, Mayuko Fieweger, Jade Rose Kelly, Aubrey C. Sullivan and Daniel S. Ward in 26-1103, 26-1104 to extend time to file appellee/respondent's brief until 08/07/2026. Served on: 06/09/2026. Manner of service: email. This pleading complies with all required privacy and virus certifications: Yes. [26-1101, 26-1103, 26-1104] JKF [Entered: 06/09/2026 03:13 PM]	Filing	7	PDF CL
2026-06-12	27	[11289935] Motion for leave to file an amicus brief filed by Movants Independent Womens Law Center and Manhattan Institute in 26-1101, 26-1103, 26-1104. Served on 06/12/2026. Manner of Service: email. [26-1101, 26-1103, 26-1104] [Entered: 06/12/2026 12:48 PM]	Filing	7	PDF CL
2026-06-14	30	Main document not on file

	30-1	This entry has been removed from the docket. [KLP] Motion and brief filed. [11290102] Motion submitted by Southeastern Legal Foundation for leave to file an amicus brief. Served on: 06/14/2026 Manner of service: email. This pleading complies with all required privacy and virus certifications: Yes. [26-1101, 26-1103, 26-1104.] JRM [Entered: 06/14/2026 08:40 PM]	Attachment	7	PDF CL
2026-06-15	32	[11290160] Order filed by Clerk of the Court - This matter is before the court on the Motion of Independent Women’s Law Center and Manhattan Institute for Leave to File Brief as Amicus Curiae in Support of Plaintiff-Appellants and Reversal. Upon consideration the court provisionally grants movants leave to file as amici curiae in support of appellant, subject to reconsideration by the panel of judges that will later be assigned to hear this appeal on the merits. See order for details. Served on 06/15/2026. [26-1101, 26-1103, 26-1104] [Entered: 06/15/2026 08:57 AM]	Filing	3	PDF CL
2026-06-15	40	This entry has been removed from the docket. [JMN PDF removed filed.][11290387] Motion submitted by Institute for Free Speech for leave to file an amicus brief. Served on: 06/15/2026 Manner of service: email. This pleading complies with all required privacy and virus certifications: Yes. [26-1101] BRN [Entered: 06/15/2026 03:07 PM]	Filing	7	PDF CL
2026-06-16	50	[11290682] Order filed by Clerk of the Court. This matter is before the court on receipt and initial review of the Brief of Amicus Curiae The Center for American Liberty in Support of Appellants and Reversal. The court construes appellees' statement of "no position" as consent. The amicus brief of the Center for American Liberty is accepted for filing. Served on 06/16/2026. [26-1101, 26-1103, 26-1104] [Entered: 06/16/2026 10:41 AM]	Filing	3	PDF CL
2026-09-10	104	[11316249] Oral argument notice filed. This matter is set for IN-PERSON oral argument on 11/16/2026 at 9:00 A.M. Mountain Time in Courtroom I of the Byron White United States Courthouse, Denver, CO. Arguing counsel must carefully review the attached notice. Within 10 days of today's date, arguing counsel must review the argument calendar available on the court's website, and download, complete, and e-file the required calendar form(s). Counsel for amici parties may not participate in argument without written permission from the court. Arguing counsel must check-in at the Clerk's Office 45 minutes prior to the start of arguments. [26-1101, 26-1103, 26-1104] [Entered: 09/10/2026 09:14 AM]	Filing	2	PDF CL
2025-06-13		Rasmussen Declaration	Declaration	4
2026-02-11		Appendix	Declaration	828

Browse and search the 43 court documents in the archive for this case.

Litigation

Court cases about transgender and other LGBTQ+ people · federal & state courts

Cases tracked

Case name Court Level Issue / type Circuit Outcome Year ≥ Year ≤

loading…

Case	Court	Level	Cir.	Year	Issue / type	Outcome	Docs

Every case in the corpus. Click a case name for its overview; click any column to sort, again to reverse. Each case has one main issue and may raise others (shown as "also…"); the Issue filter finds a case by either. Issues were checked case by case in September 2026. Level, circuit and outcome come from the coded caselaw dataset, so some rows are blank where a case hasn't been coded yet.

Archive stats

Group by

Direct counts from the archive index — instant and exact. Counts are FILINGS (docket entries); the distinct-case figure is shown alongside.

Cases by issue

Every tracked case once, under its main issue, split by the coded direction of its final ruling (the same reading as "Reached a final ruling" below): favorable or adverse to the LGBTQ-rights claim, or mixed. The empty part of each bar is cases with no coded ruling at the trial, circuit or Supreme Court stage yet, which is most of them; it is not a claim that they have no outcome. Choose a bar to list its cases.

Loading…

Reached a final ruling

The coded direction at the HIGHEST stage a case reached — trial-level, circuit-court or Supreme Court only. A preliminary-injunction ruling never counts as final, and a "procedural, no direction" or "unclear" coding is excluded rather than shown as an outcome.

Loading…

Case duration

Filed to terminated, from real CourtListener docket dates, among cases where EVERY tracked docket has terminated (an open appellate docket alongside a closed district one is pending, not resolved). No stage-by-stage date exists in this corpus, so only this one span is shown; dates cover only the tracked-docket tier — see the coverage note below the numbers.

Loading…

Cases by circuit

A real geographic map, states shaded by their circuit's case count relative to the busiest circuit (linear). The Federal Circuit has no state territory of its own (its jurisdiction is subject matter, not geography) and so never paints here, but still appears in the list and the table. Select a circuit below for its final-ruling mix.

Table view (stages, durations and circuits)

Expert witnesses

Filter Appears in

A curated roster of the recurring expert witnesses in this litigation, with every declaration, expert report, affidavit, deposition and trial-testimony document the corpus holds for each, grouped by case. Coverage is limited by what has been pulled: expert material is heavily attachment-borne, so a witness who testified in ten cases may show fewer here, and some documents are marked in a larger filing — the testimony sits inside an appendix or exhibit set rather than as its own entry.

Judges

Filter Appointed by Coded rulings

The record counts how the judge voted, not how the case came out. Dissents and concurrences are parsed from the opinions themselves ("NIEMEYER, Circuit Judge, dissenting"), so a judge who dissented is scored against the panel's result — without that, Judge Niemeyer read 4–3 favorable to trans claimants. Partial dissents are shown but left out of the tally. Votes come from separate-writing headings and from the opinion's own joinder block ("Judge Richardson wrote a dissenting opinion, in which Judge Wilkinson, Judge Niemeyer… joined"), so a judge who joins a dissent without writing one still counts. Judges are resolved to real people against the Federal Judicial Center directory using the deciding court — there are 32 federal judges named Smith, and two Judge Pryors on the Eleventh Circuit. 195 ambiguous name/court pairs were dropped rather than merged, and a case with no opinion text in the corpus keeps the panel result for want of anything better. Small numbers are small numbers: three rulings is not a tendency.