Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Barring Enforcement of Executive Order to Transfer Trans Women Prisoners to Men’s Prisons
by Matt Clarke
On June 7, 2026, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the enforcement of Republican President Donald Trump’s executive order that all biologically male federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) prisoners be housed in men’s facilities.
“On January 25, 2025, the President issued an Executive Order [EO 14168, 90 Fed. Reg. 8615] directing the Attorney General ‘to ensure that males’—defined as ‘person[s] belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell’—‘are not detained in women’s prisons or women’s detention centers,’” as outlined in court documents.
Eighteen trans-women housed in women’s facilities after individualized BOP assessments filed a federal civil rights action against the U.S. Attorney General and the BOP Director, seeking to enjoin the implementation of Section 4(a) of EO 14168 against them alleging that their incarceration in men’s facilities would result in an unconstitutional risk of harm. This represents about 1% of the BOP’s transgender population. The court consolidated the cases and granted preliminary injunctions. The plaintiffs were represented by Lowenstein Sandler LLP, GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Brown and Levy.
On appeal, the plaintiffs did not defend a general application of the injunction to all trans-women BOP prisoners. Instead, they argued that each individual plaintiff had “characteristics that make them particularly vulnerable to violence, abuse, and psychiatric harm in men’s prisons.” The court held that there were insufficient facts in the record to make the individualized determinations. It vacated the preliminary injunctions still in effect and remanded. See: Doe v. Blanche, 172 F.4th 901 (D.C. Cir. 2026).
On remand, the district court issued a preliminary injunction, based on individualized assessments, enjoining defendants from implementing EO 14168 against the 14 remaining plaintiffs and ordering them and their subordinates to maintain plaintiffs in women’s facilities. The court noted that a Texas federal court had recently issued a preliminary injunction that was relevant to its ruling. See: Flemming v. Rule, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 121305 (N.D. Tex.).
The Fleming lawsuit was brought by two biologically female BOP prisoners seeking to enjoin the BOP from housing biologically male prisoners in women’s facilities. Five women incarcerated at Federal Medical Center (FMC) Carswell intervened.
On June 2, 2026, the Fleming court granted the intervenor-plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction and enjoined Warden Rule and the other defendants from housing biologically male prisoners, regardless of gender identity, “within the general population of any housing unit at FMC Carswell where biological female prisoners are present, including, but not limited to, showers, restrooms, changing areas, dormitory spaces, elevators, dining areas, recreation areas, the mailroom, and other shared prison spaces, so that intervenor-plaintiffs and other female inmates are not forced to encounter male inmates while showering, dressing, eating, recreating, receiving mail, or otherwise navigating daily prison life,” with a few exceptions for medical visits, transportation, visitation, and the Special Housing Unit.
The Doe court held that nothing in its preliminary injunction conflicts with the Fleming court’s preliminary injunction. Thus, at least at FMC Carswell, it seems that trans women prisoners will be housed separately from biological females. See: Doe v. Blanche, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125422 (D.C.).
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Related legal case
Doe v. Blanche
| Year | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Cite | 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125422 (D.C.) |
| Level | District Court |