Notable rulings
On August 24, 2023, Boardman denied a request for a preliminary injunction seeking to reinstate a Montgomery County School Board policy that allowed parents to remove their children from lessons involving books featuring LGBTQ characters. [13] Plaintiffs claimed exposure to these books contradicted "their sincerely held religious beliefs about marriage, human sexuality, and gender" and that the lack of an opt-out policy violated their children’s First Amendment right to free exercise of religion. Boardman reasoned that "mere exposure in public school to ideas that contradict religious beliefs does not burden the religious exercise of students or parents". [14] The Fourth Circuit affirmed her decision by a 2–1 vote on May 14, 2024. [15] The case is pending before the Supreme Court after the Court granted certiorari on January 17, 2025. [16]
On August 19, 2024, Boardman ruled in favor of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, which challenged a biological opinion issued by National Marine Fisheries Service in 2020 under the Trump administration. She found the agency violated the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedures Act by underestimating risks and failing to implement adequate mitigation measures for the effects of oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico on protected species, including the Rice's whale. [17] Various oil and gas companies denounced the decision, as they would have to halt all operations in the Gulf of Mexico. [18]
On February 5, 2025, Boardman became the first district judge in the nation to grant a preliminary injunction, blocking President Trump's Executive Order 14160—which aimed to end birthright citizenship in the United States—from taking effect on February 19. The case was brought by five pregnant undocumented women and two immigrant rights organizations. [19] [20] The next day, Judge John C. Coughenour issued a similar preliminary injunction in a case filed by the State of Washington challenging the same executive order. [21]
