Prisons can’t ‘blindly submit’ to Trump’s ‘whims’ by denying gender-affirming care to trans inmates, judge says
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Judge overrules Trump on issue of transgender prisoners’ care
- A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration's policy of denying gender-affirming care to transgender inmates.
- Judge Royce Lamberth criticized the administration's argument that courts should defer to the president's directives, saying that democratic governance requires adherence to all duly enacted laws, not just the whims of the current leader.
- The ruling marks the first court order to block prison officials from enforcing US President Donald Trump's executive order. He also sought to move trans women out of women's detention centres.
- Plaintiffs, including trans men and a trans woman, argued that the policy violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, as they were denied hormone therapy and items like chest binders and cosmetics.
- The judge said that the administration failed to provide a valid explanation for changing the policy.