Justice Department Asks Supreme Court To Reinstate Prison Gender Ban
The Justice Department asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in on Monday. They want the high court to save a new rule for federal prisons. That rule stops the government from paying for hormone treatments and surgeries. It also blocks social items like wigs or padding for inmates. The goal is to let the prison system enforce its updated policy right now. This move seeks to stop a lower court from blocking the ban on gender transition care.
U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed the emergency petition. He wants the court to lift a block issued by a federal judge earlier this year. According to Fox News, the lower court had ordered the Bureau of Prisons to keep providing care. The Justice Department argues that order was wrong. They say the prison system has the right to set these safety rules. The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to approve the new policy while the legal fight continues.
The new policy started in February 2026. It ended surgeries aimed at changing sex traits for inmates. It also stopped hormone treatments for those not already on them. The rule bans social accommodations that do not match an inmate’s biological sex. This includes makeup, wigs, and undergarments that alter appearance. According to the Washington Examiner, the Bureau of Prisons made this change based on new science. They also cited safety concerns that outweighed the limited benefits of the old care.
Sauer wrote that the lower court failed to look at the prison’s reasoning. He said the court ignored the official record of the policy. “Without meaningfully engaging with either BOP’s reasoning or the administrative record, the district court prohibited BOP from applying its 2026 policy to any inmate who is or will be diagnosed with gender dysphoria,” Sauer wrote. The Justice Department claims the lower court did not give the prison system enough respect for its job.
The Solicitor General says the ban is a sound choice for prison safety. He argues the decision falls within the bounds of good judgment. “BOP’s decision to prioritize mental-health treatment, while discontinuing medically disputed and unproven sex-rejecting interventions, falls well within the bounds of reasoned decision-making,” Sauer said in the petition. He believes the court should not interfere with how prisons run their health programs.
Sauer warned that the lower court’s order hurts the public and the government. He said the court ignored the safety concerns that prison leaders raised. “In nullifying BOP’s exercise of its statutorily conferred authority to adopt a policy that prison administrators have determined is necessary to maintain institutional security, the court’s order causes irreparable harm to the government and to the public,” Sauer said. The department wants the Supreme Court to agree and let the ban take effect immediately.
A group of federal inmates sued the Trump administration earlier this year. They challenged an executive order that stopped federal funds for these treatments. The order came at the start of the second term. According to the Washington Times, President Trump asked the Supreme Court to approve the refusal to pay for these procedures. The inmates argued the government must follow past practices. But the Justice Department says the new rules are necessary for order.
The lower court judge found the Bureau of Prisons did not look at its own past experience. Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, ordered care to continue in June. He felt the agency ignored standards from a professional group. Now, the government says that ruling was too far off base. Sauer noted the court departed “from the significant deference that BOP is due.” The Supreme Court now holds the power to decide if the ban stays or goes.