A federal court hearing addressed whether the Trump administration has violated a preliminary injunction by moving several incarcerated transgender women into a segregated housing unit at a Fort Worth, Texas prison facility.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth issued the preliminary injunction on June 7, directing federal prison officials to house the plaintiffs in women’s facilities or women’s halfway houses. The order challenged an executive order signed by President Donald Trump directing the Bureau of Prisons to house inmates based on biological sex and to cease gender-affirming medical care. Eight transgender women who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit are currently housed in the segregated unit, along with two other transgender women not party to the litigation.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Lamberth indicated skepticism of the government’s position, asking a Justice Department attorney directly whether the administration was violating his order. Justice Department attorney Jared Littman denied a violation, arguing the language of the preliminary injunction did not prohibit segregating the plaintiffs. However, the judge stated it appeared the government had violated the order “on its face” by segregating the inmates and removing privileges they previously had in women’s facilities.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that the segregated housing constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and represents an indirect method of enforcing the executive order. They contended that the conditions in the segregated unit are not comparable to women’s facilities and that such housing has worsened gender dysphoria among the inmates. Government lawyers countered that the injunction did not mandate that plaintiffs be housed with cisgender female inmates or share common spaces with them, and they maintained that plaintiffs should first exhaust administrative complaint procedures before pursuing court relief.
Lamberth did not issue an immediate ruling from the bench on the plaintiffs’ request to return to general population and block additional transfers to the segregated unit.
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