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Developing story
The Supreme Court on Oct. 21 refused to let the Trump administration enforce a Bureau of Prisons policy ending hormone treatments and certain surgeries for transgender inmates. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.
The Supreme Court on Oct. 21 declined to lift a lower judge’s order blocking a Bureau of Prisons policy on transgender inmates, according to The Hill. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.
The policy would phase out treatments for inmates now receiving them. It would also end social accommodations, such as hair-removal devices, The Hill reported.
Neither the majority nor the two dissenting justices explained their reasoning, according to The Hill.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued the changes are needed to maintain "institutional security" in federal prisons. In court filings, the administration called the lawsuit an "egregious intrusion into federal prison administration."
The administration also argued the suit should fail because lower courts are not following a law that limits inmate civil litigation, The Hill reported.
The D.C. Circuit voted 2-1 that there was no sign of a specific security incident under the old policy, according to The Hill. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the inmates, says the restrictions would upend a three-decade status quo.
President Trump signed an order on the first day of his second term directing that no federal funds go to procedures meant to conform an inmate’s appearance to the opposite sex. The inmates’ case now centers on a February Bureau of Prisons statement formalizing the restrictions.
ACLU attorney Li Nowlin-Sohl called it "a critical ruling for our clients."
The Hill described the order as a rare loss for the administration, which has won more than two dozen emergency requests at the high court after judges blocked parts of the president’s agenda.
This story is developing and will be updated.
Sources
What it means for you
- The Bureau of Prisons policy cannot take effect while the lower court’s block stays in place.
- The inmates’ lawsuit continues, now focused on the Bureau of Prisons’ February statement. The reports did not give a date for the next ruling.
- The administration’s streak of emergency-docket wins has a rare exception, and the reports did not say whether it will pursue other options.