Judge questions whether government defied order on segregated housing
WASHINGTON — U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth told Justice Department attorneys Wednesday that the Trump administration appeared to have violated a court order by transferring several incarcerated transgender women to a segregated prison unit and stripping them of privileges they had when housed in women’s facilities.
Lamberth, who issued a preliminary injunction last month barring the administration from segregating the women, did not rule from the bench on the inmates’ request to return to general population or to block additional transfers into the segregated unit. But the judge made clear during the hearing that he viewed the government’s actions as running afoul of his order.
“You’re violating my order, aren’t you?” Lamberth asked Justice Department attorney Jared Littman.
“No, your honor,” Littman said. “Based on the words of your order, there was no violation.”
Lamberth, however, said it appeared the government had violated his previous order “on its face” by segregating the plaintiffs and depriving them of “all of their privileges” from when they were housed in women’s facilities.
An attorney for the inmates argued Wednesday that the transfers violated the preliminary injunction Lamberth issued last month and urged him to enforce the order.
The hearing took place in federal court in Washington, D.C. Lamberth did not indicate when he would issue a ruling.