Advocates for transgender youth vowed to keep fighting Wednesday after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked — at least temporarily — a California po…

The Supreme Court seems likely to uphold state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams. Lower courts ruled for the transgender athletes in Idaho and West Virginia who challenged the state bans. But the conservative-dominated Supreme Court gave no indication after more than three hours of arguments Tuesday that it would follow suit. Instead, at least five of the six conservatives on the nine-member court indicate they'll rule the laws don't violate either the Constitution or the landmark Title IX law. Title IX prohibits discrimination in education and has produced dramatic growth in girls and women's sports.

Investigators in Minneapolis say the shooter who killed two Catholic school students and wounded 18 other people inside a church had become obsessed with the thought of killing defenseless children. Police said Thursday that the shooter idolized mass killers and wanted to terrorize innocent children. The police chief in Minneapolis says the shooter, identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, fired 116 rifle rounds through stained-glass windows Wednesday morning. The children were celebrating Mass during the first week of classes at the Annunciation Catholic School. Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson says videos and writings the shooter left behind show Westman expressed hatred toward almost every group imaginable.

The Supreme Court has thrown out appellate rulings in favor of transgender people in four states following the justices' recent decision upholding a Tennessee ban on certain medical treatment for transgender youths. But the justices took no action Monday in cases from Arizona, Idaho and West Virginia involving the participation of transgender students on school sports teams. The court could say by Thursday whether it'll take up the issue in its next term. The high court ordered appellate judges to reexamine cases from Idaho, North Carolina, Oklahoma and West Virginia involving access to medical care and birth certificates. Those rulings all found violations of the Constitution's equal protection clause, the legal question raised in the Tennessee case.