U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth on Wednesday questioned the Trump administration's transfers of incarcerated transgender women to a segregated prison unit, suggesting the action may violate a preliminary injunction he issued last month. Lamberth indicated that the government's actions appeared to contravene his order "on its face" by segregating the plaintiffs and removing their privileges.
Ten transgender women are currently held in a segregated unit at a prison in Fort Worth, Texas. Eight of these women are plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last year. This order directs the federal Bureau of Prisons to house inmates based on biological sex and to cease gender-affirming care.
On June 7, Lamberth, who was nominated by President Ronald Reagan, ruled that the plaintiffs must be housed in women's prisons or halfway houses. He also enjoined prison officials from enforcing certain parts of Trump's executive order. The plaintiffs' attorney, Alexander Shalom, argued that segregating the inmates in the unit violates their constitutional rights against cruel and unusual punishment, describing it as a "backdoor attempt to implement the executive order." Shalom stated that the conditions in the segregated unit are not comparable to those in women's facilities and that the transfers have worsened the plaintiffs' gender dysphoria.
Justice Department attorney Jared Littman contended that the transfers do not violate the injunction because the judge's order did not require the plaintiffs to be housed with cisgender female inmates or share common spaces. Littman also argued that the plaintiffs should use the prison system's administrative complaint process before pursuing legal action. Judge Lamberth did not issue a ruling from the bench on the inmates' request to be returned to the general population and to block further transfers.