Court rules Trump can’t move transgender women to men’s prisons

A federal judge has once again stopped the Trump administration from transferring transgender women in federal custody to men’s prisons, finding that 14 incarcerated women are likely to succeed in their challenge to a policy that would strip prison officials of the ability to consider their individual safety.In a ruling issued Sunday, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth granted a preliminary injunction barring the Bureau of Prisons from implementing a provision of President Donald Trump's Executive Order 14168 against the plaintiffs, a group of transgender women who say the policy would expose them to grave risks of violence, sexual assault, and other harms.The order requires the Bureau of Prisons to maintain the women's current placements in women's prisons and halfway houses while the litigation proceeds. Lamberth found that each of the 14 women had demonstrated that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims, and are likely to suffer imminent and irreparable harm absent relief.Related: Appeals court clears path to move trans women into men’s prisons despite sexual assault riskThe case stems from Trump's January 20, 2025, executive order directing federal agencies to recognize only two sexes and requiring federal prisons to house people according to sex assigned at birth. The policy threatened to remove transgender women from women's prisons regardless of their medical history, prior placement decisions, or documented safety concerns.Lamberth first intervened in early 2025, concluding that the plaintiffs had shown a likelihood of success on claims that forcing transgender women into men's prisons would violate their constitutional rights.The legal battle took a turn in April when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit largely upheld the plaintiffs' ability to challenge the policy but instructed Lamberth to make more individualized findings regarding the specific harms facing each plaintiff before continuing injunctive re