Woodward is a responsible, responsive legislator
Bonners Ferry Herald | UPDATED 6 days, 20 hours AGO
I am an attorney. I have practiced law in Idaho for 34 years. I am writing because Scott Herndon continues to misrepresent Jim Woodward’s 2020 vote on HB 500 using it as a campaign weapon. The public deserves an accurate perspective on what that vote actually means.
HB 500 — the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act — was signed into law in March 2020. Before the ink dried, the Idaho Attorney General’s office issued an opinion warning that the bill likely violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause and Title IX. Five former, Republican, Idaho attorneys general wrote the Governor urging a veto to spare taxpayers the cost of defending a legally defective statute. Their collective judgment represented decades of experience in constitutional law.
Jim Woodward did just as any responsible legislator would, he read those legal opinions and voted accordingly. That is not a vote in favor of boys competing in girls’ sports. That is a conservative legislator doing exactly what a legislator should do — accepting legal counsel, abiding by the Constitution he swore to follow, and applying critical judgment to avoid taxpayer funding of a legal fight over a defective law.
What happened next is critical: The law was blocked by a federal court within weeks of being signed. It has never been enforced in six years since and Idaho taxpayers are funding its legal defense. The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in January 2026 and has not ruled.
Herndon uses HB500 as a character attack on Woodward in every campaign since 2022. He misrepresents Woodward’s following legal counsel into a bumper sticker — “voted to put boys in girls’ sports”. Sadly, some people accept that as fact. Unfortunately, taxpayers are funding a battle that Woodward voted to avoid.
This is not legitimate debate. It is a misrepresentation of a public servant’s record. An attorney general’s legal opinion is not talking point to be spun. Woodward followed legal advice. Apparently, Herndon would not have.
BRENT C. FEATHERSTON
Sandpoint