California was dealt another blow in a lawsuit over gender secrecy policies in schools when a federal judge ordered the state this week to pay the plaintiffs in the case $4.5 million in taxpayer-funded legal fees.

Judge Roger Benitez, an appointee of President George W. Bush, scolded state lawyers in his order for what he said was an “unusual” spree of court motions that forced the parents and teachers who brought the lawsuit to respond to California’s “litigation intransigence.”

The lawsuit challenged California’s SAFETY Act, which blocked schools from requiring staff to notify parents if a student sought to change their gender identity or pronouns. The Supreme Court rejected the policy in March and jurisdictions with similar policies have subsequently been hit with legal threats to repeal them. 

Benitez also tacked on added financial penalties, in addition to the legal fees reimbursement, to reach the $4.5 million figure because the case concerned a “very important subject,” he said.

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California Attorney General Rob Bonta (Reuters/Fred Greaves/File Photo)

“State public education policies impinged on families’ right to the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment. The policies also rejected and subverted the federal constitutional rights of California parents to guide the health and well-being of their school-age children,” Benitez wrote. “Such concerns intrude among the most important areas of family life in America’s history and tradition.”

The lawsuit, brought against California Attorney General Rob Bonta, had argued that the state imposed an unconstitutional policy on schools that blocked teachers and staff from informing parents if their child wanted to change their gender.

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Protesters gather outside the Supreme Court as it hears arguments over state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)

The Supreme Court sided with the parents in a 6-3 emergency order, saying California’s policy, which blocked what critics described as schools’ “forced outing” of students, was likely unconstitutional.

The Thomas More Society, a conservative legal group, represented the plaintiffs in the case and recently warned a school district in New Jersey that it would begin legal action if the school district did not repeal a similar policy on transgender students.

The Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 4, 2025. ( Pete Kiehart/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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“This is just the beginning,” Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive vice president, told Fox News Digital of its warning to the Westwood Regional School Board. “This is not an end, but a beginning, our big win in the Supreme Court. We are already fielding requests from other parents across the country, and we anticipate sending a lot more demand letters, unfortunately.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Bonta’s office for comment. 

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to defund PBS and NPR. 

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington, D.C., pertains to President Donald Trump’s executive order to cease federal funding for both entities, an action the judge ruled was unlawful and unenforceable.

“It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the President does not like and seeks to squelch,” wrote Moss, an Obama appointee.

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National Public Radio headquarters in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

“The Federal Defendants fail to cite a single case in which a court has ever upheld a statute or executive action that bars a particular person or entity from participating in any federally funded activity based on that person or entity’s past speech,” the judge wrote.

Republicans have long campaigned on ending federal funding for public media, citing left-wing political bias and wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars. 

“The message is clear: NPR and PBS need not apply for any federal benefit because the President disapproves of their ‘left-wing’ coverage of the news,” Moss wrote.

The White House called Tuesday’s ruling “ridiculous.”

“This is a ridiculous ruling by an activist judge attempting to undermine the law,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital. “NPR and PBS have no right to receive taxpayer funds, and Congress already voted to defund them. The Trump Administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”

NPR claimed that Trump wanted to cut off access to public funds as punishment for its reporting. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Katherine Maher, NPR’s president and CEO, called Tuesday’s ruling a win for a free and independent press.

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A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump’s efforts to defund PBS and NPR.  (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

“The court made clear that the government cannot use funding as a lever to influence or penalize the press, whether as a national news service or a local newsroom,” Maher said. “Public media exists to serve the public interest—that of Americans—not that of any political agenda or elected official.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and PBS for comment. 

A judge on Tuesday blocked an executive order issued by President Donald Trump to defund NPR and PBS.  (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

While the government argued some legal claims were moot because of the organizational shifts following the initial defunding attempts, Judge Moss disagreed.

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“But that does not end the matter because the Executive Order sweeps beyond the CPB,” Moss added. “It also directs that all federal agencies refrain from funding NPR and PBS—regardless of the nature of the program or the merits of their applications or requests for funding.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.