Supreme Court Blocks Trump Prison Policy

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s emergency request to block a lower-court injunction. The Bureau of Prisons can’t enforce its restrictions on treatment and accommodations for transgender inmates. About 1,000 transgender inmates are in federal custody. The ruling is one of several disputes over executive power involving courts, federal agencies and the administration.

The court’s ruling and its record

The blocked policy would have barred gender-transition surgeries, hormone treatments and social accommodations, including wigs, padding or makeup. Inmates under the policy would have had access only to mental-health services and potentially medications such as antidepressants. The administration said medical professionals had recently called the treatments into question, a claim transgender-rights advocates strongly contest.

The policy followed Trump’s January 2025 executive order directing federal agencies not to acknowledge gender identity outside the “immutable biological classification” of male or female. The Supreme Court’s brief order gave no explanation. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would have granted the administration’s request.

A group of transgender inmates sued with support from the American Civil Liberties Union, arguing that the government hadn’t adequately explained the change and had violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Lead plaintiffs Alishea Kingdom, Jas Kapule and Solo Nichols had received hormone treatment for several years. ACLU lawyers said the Bureau of Prisons has provided hormone therapy since 1992 and gradually expanded access to other treatments and accommodations.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, a Republican appointee, blocked the policy earlier this year. He said the Bureau of Prisons failed to consider the merits of its previous treatment policies and found the proposal appeared engineered to comply with Trump’s executive order. “Despite providing gender-affirming care to inmates in its custody for years, the government cites in the Program Statement zero evidence from its own medical or mental health professionals to support its conclusions,” he wrote. He added that the government offered no evidence the previous plan was “ineffective or harmful.”

In September, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected the administration’s request to block Lamberth’s final decision in a 2-1 ruling. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the lower court was “substituting its own policy judgment for that of the agency.” ACLU lawyers said the agency’s explanation and decision gave rise to the inference that its stated reasons weren’t its actual reasons.

Election and press-access disputes

Democrats sued Trump and the Justice Department, alleging the administration was unlawfully interfering with the midterms by pressuring states to remove voters from their rolls. The complaint alleges officials directed a “persistent stream of threats and intimidation” at state and local election officials. The article gives no ruling on the lawsuit’s claims.

Trump also discussed moving the White House press corps to another building, according to two people close to him. No final decision had been made. White House communications director Steven Cheung said on X: “All options remain on the table, and we will make an announcement when appropriate.” Reporters have dedicated workspaces in the White House building. The current briefing room dates to the Nixon administration.

The discussions follow disputes over media access. Last month, Trump attempted to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House complex. A federal judge reinstated their press credentials, finding the ban likely violated the First Amendment and the outlets’ right to due process. The administration continues to periodically block CNN from the television press pool.

Other developments

Trump was scheduled to travel to South Carolina on Wednesday for a rally at Clemson University supporting appointed Sen. Darline Graham, who is running against Democrat Annie Andrews. Graham became the Republican Senate nominee after defeating Rep. Ralph Norman by about five percentage points in a primary runoff. Trump denied involvement in a reported slowdown of SpaceX’s Starlink service in Ukraine, saying, “I wasn’t involved.”

On Tuesday, Oct. 20, Trump signed 10 bills into law. They cover Social Security, online dating scams, human trafficking, domestic manufacturing and land transfers. One measure directs the Secretary of Commerce to assess the costs and benefits of domestic production of high-demand products imported because of manufacturing, material or supply-chain constraints. Another transfers approximately 1,082.63 acres of federal land in Washington to the Lower Elwha Tribal Community, also called the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.