Federal Judge Blocks Trump Order on Transgender Inmate Transfers

The ruling halts the transfer of transgender women to men’s prisons and preserves their access to gender-affirming care.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth issued a temporary restraining order against a Trump administration policy mandating transgender women in federal prisons be housed in men’s facilities.
The judge ruled that the plaintiffs, three transgender inmates, are likely to succeed in their claims that the policy violates the Eighth Amendment's protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
The executive order, signed by President Trump on January 20, also aimed to terminate federal funding for gender-affirming medical care for incarcerated individuals.
The court found that transferring the women to men’s prisons could subject them to significant risks of violence and sexual assault, as well as disrupt their hormone therapy treatments.
This ruling follows a similar decision by a federal judge in Boston last month, though that case applied to a single plaintiff, whereas this decision impacts all 16 transgender women housed in federal women’s facilities.