Latest news with #JudgeLamberth
New York Times
19-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Judge Orders Trump Officials to Restore Funding for Radio Free Europe
A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to restore funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a federally funded newsroom that provides independent reporting in countries with limited press freedom, such as Russia, Iran and Afghanistan. The judge, Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, berated the Trump administration in his ruling, calling its legal arguments 'nonsensical' and its decision to withhold funds 'unprecedented.' The news organization, also known as RFE/RL, is a private nonprofit that has independence over its editorial decisions and hiring practices but receives nearly all of its funding from Congress. Since March, the administration has refused to enter into a new funding contract with RFE/RL after the previous agreement expired, effectively denying funding to the news group. Before denying the funds, President Trump signed a budget bill in March that provided funding to the news group until Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year. Judge Lamberth found that the Trump administration lacked legal authority to refuse funding that Congress approved without providing a clear basis for such a drastic measure. 'Congress has appropriated funds for RFE/RL every year since the enactment of the International Broadcasting Act of 1987,' the judge wrote in his ruling. He added that the Trump administration 'has fallen short of its duty to articulate a satisfactory explanation' because 'it has offered no explanation at all.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
03-06-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Judge Blocks Trump Effort to End Treatment for Transgender Inmates
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons must provide transgender inmates with hormone therapy and social accommodations such as gender-appropriate clothing while a lawsuit over the issue proceeds, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. The ruling, by Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, also certified a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 1,000 inmates who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The lawsuit claims the Trump administration's policy denying gender-related treatment to prisoners violates their Eighth Amendment right to medical care and the Administrative Procedure Act, which prohibits 'arbitrary and capricious' actions by federal agencies. In his order, Judge Lamberth said it was not necessary to address the constitutional issue at this stage of the case because the plaintiffs were likely to prevail on Administrative Procedure Act grounds. Under the act, he wrote, the Bureau of Prisons 'may not arbitrarily deprive inmates of medications or other lifestyle accommodations that its own medical staff have deemed to be medically appropriate without considering the implications of that decision.' Judge Lamberth was appointed by President Ronald Reagan. The ruling temporarily blocks a policy that stemmed from an executive order, issued by President Trump the day he took office, that no federal funds be spent for medical treatments 'for the purpose of conforming an inmate's appearance to that of the opposite sex.' That order, part of a broader push to eliminate protections for transgender people in the United States, suggested that recognizing the legitimacy of gender identities that do not match a person's biological sex 'has a corrosive impact' on the 'entire American system.' One plaintiff in the suit, Alishea Kingdom, a transgender woman who had been receiving hormone therapy since 2016, was denied hormone injections under the new policy, though she later began receiving them again, according to court documents. Two other plaintiffs, both transgender men, were told that their hormone therapies would not be renewed. Each was denied access to undergarments or hygiene products that corresponded with their gender identity. About 600 inmates with gender dysphoria are receiving hormone treatments, according to the Bureau of Prisons. The judge's order does not require the bureau to provide gender-related surgeries. The number of inmates requesting such operations is minuscule, and only two such surgeries are known to have been performed on inmates. Gender dysphoria can 'produce severe side effects ranging from depression and anxiety to suicidal ideation and self-harm if inadequately treated,' the judge wrote, adding that the Bureau of Prisons 'does not dispute this medical reality.' He wrote that it was not necessary to take into account debates over the efficacy of hormone therapies in his decision to issue a preliminary injunction against the policy. 'To conclude that the defendants have failed to meet the procedural strictures of the APA,' Judge Lamberth wrote, referring to the Administrative Procedure Act, 'is not to take any position on the underlying merits of the BOP's substantive policy decisions or the goals motivating the Executive Order.'
CBS News
03-06-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Judge says Trump administration must provide hormone therapy, accommodations to transgender inmates
Washington — A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled Tuesday that the federal Bureau of Prisons must continue providing hormone therapy and social accommodations to transgender inmates while they pursue a legal challenge to President Trump's executive order that sought to restrict access to the treatments. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth granted a request for a preliminary injunction sought by three transgender inmates who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and were provided with hormone therapy and certain lifestyle accommodations, such as clothing and hair removal devices, during their incarceration. The inmates filed their lawsuit after Mr. Trump issued an executive order on his first day back in the White House that kept federal funds from being spent on any medical procedure or treatment meant to confirm an inmate's appearance to that of the opposite sex. They asked the district court in Washington to block implementation of Mr. Trump's executive order while their lawsuit proceeds, arguing that the directive and the Bureau of Prison's actions implementing it violated a federal law that governs the agency rulemaking process, the Administrative Procedure Act. Lamberth agreed, and ruled that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims under the Administrative Procedure Act. The judge blocked administration officials from enforcing the president's executive order as it relates to hormone therapy and social accommodations for people in custody of the Bureau of Prisons and directed them to continue providing transgender inmates with gender-affirming care and certain accommodations, as was the bureau's policy before Mr. Trump took office. "The import of the opinion is essentially this: Under the APA, the BOP may not arbitrarily deprive inmates of medications or other lifestyle accommodations that its own medical staff have deemed to be medically appropriate without considering the implications of that decision," Lamberth, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, wrote in a 36-page opinion. The case before Lamberth is one of several brought by transgender inmates in response to Mr. Trump's executive actions. In the wake of the president's order regarding gender-affirming care for inmates, the Bureau of Prisons issued memoranda that barred federal dollars from being used to "purchase any items that align with transgender ideology" or provide gender-affirming care for transgender inmates. The bureau also clarified that requests for clothing accommodations will be denied. The three plaintiffs in the case were in custody of the Bureau of Prisons when the directives were issued and filed their lawsuit in March. They had been prescribed hormone therapy and were approved to receive social accommodations, including undergarments and hygiene products. But on the heels of Mr. Trump's executive order, they were informed their treatments would be discontinued, though their access to the medical care has since been restored. The transgender inmates asked the court to issue relief in mid-March and sought to certify a class consisting of all incarcerated people in the Bureau of Prisons' custody who will be or have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and receive the gender-affirming care targeted by Mr. Trump's executive order. Lamberth rejected the Trump administration's contention that it will suffer a financial burden if required to continue providing certain gender-affirming care to inmates. He noted that the Bureau of Prisons is providing hormone therapy to 600 incarcerated people who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. "The only deleterious public effect of the court's injunction will be to require that, during the pendency of litigation, the BOP will continue to shoulder a certain administrative cost that it has already willingly assumed since the commencement of this action, and that it had voluntary borne for many years prior," he wrote. The judge also said that neither the Bureau of Prisons nor Mr. Trump's executive order provided a "serious explanation" as to why medical treatment for gender dysphoria should be handled differently than other mental health interventions. "Nothing in the thin record before the court suggests that either the BOP or the president consciously took stock of — much less studied — the potentially debilitating effects that the new policies could have on transgender inmates before the implementing memoranda came into force," Lamberth found. The Justice Department is likely to appeal the decision. It is the latest in a slew of rulings from trial court judges that have blocked many aspects of Mr. Trump's second-term agenda.
The Independent
03-06-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Judge rules federal prisons must continue providing hormone therapy to transgender inmates
The federal Bureau of Prisons must continue providing hormone therapy and social accommodations to hundreds of transgender inmates following an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that led to a disruption in medical treatment, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said a federal law prohibits prison officials from arbitrarily depriving inmates of medications and other lifestyle accommodations that its own medical staff has deemed to be appropriate. The judge said the transgender inmates who sued to block Trump's executive order are trying to lessen the personal anguish caused by their gender dysphoria, which is the distress that a person feels because their assigned gender and gender identity don't match. 'In light of the plaintiffs' largely personal motives for undergoing gender-affirming care, neither the BOP nor the Executive Order provides any serious explanation as to why the treatment modalities covered by the Executive Order or implementing memoranda should be handled differently than any other mental health intervention,' he wrote. The Bureau of Prisons is providing hormone therapy to more than 600 inmates diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The bureau doesn't dispute that gender dysphoria can cause severe side effects, including depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, the judge said. The Republican president's executive order required the bureau to revise its medical care policies so that federal funds aren't spent 'for the purpose of conforming an inmate's appearance to that of the opposite sex.' Lamberth's ruling isn't limited to the plaintiffs named in the lawsuit. He agreed to certify a class of plaintiffs consisting of anyone who is or will be incarcerated in federal prisons. Trump's order also directed the federal Bureau of Prisons to ensure that 'males are not detained in women's prisons.' In February, however, Lamberth agreed to temporarily block prison officials from transferring three incarcerated transgender women to men's facilities and terminating their access to hormone therapy. American Civil Liberties Union. Ronald Reagan in 1987.
